Packers target Saints Ball as next negotiator (1 Viewer)

[workhorse]

This is not good news, guys. Russ Ball has done an awesome job for us working with Mickey Loomis. I hope this loss doesn't hurt us badly in the front office.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=717535

 

[guillermo]

I hope it won't happen, but in case it does, they better give him a big promotion with a much bigger salary. One thing we can't deny is that Ball deserves it, and wish we can somehow retain his services.

 

[bergeaux]

Agreed, Ball does deserve it and I wish him well, but it's going to hurt us a lot. He's done a great job so far... Now we get to see if the last few years negotiation success' were just because of Ball or because of Loomis. I think it's because of Loomis with help from a stellar guy in Ball. Hopefully we can find someone else as good or better. (that'll be hard)

 

[SAINTSFAN]

He is such a key component of the front office, that the Saints need to do what it takes to keep him. Losing him would be a huge blow to the Saints' front office IMO.

 

[Slim K]

I may be way off here but isn't a negotiator a person who discusses contracts with our players and FAs? If so he has done a fine job with our player's contracts but what about FAs? Drew Brees was the best he has ever done, it was a great one too, but other than Drew, who?

 

[meily]

all reports are that he has basically agreed to sign with the Pack, I hope he is still under contract (how does that work anyway?) is his contract up?

 

[Gideon]

I don't know much about it, but from what I've heard, Ball is a fantastic FO guy...I'd really hate to lose him, as FO are the guys who build the team long term.

It seems it's pretty much a done deal, and if so, I wish him well...just hope he doesn't leave a hole and that someone can step up to replace him

 

[srenner]

I may be way off here but isn't a negotiator a person who discusses contracts with our players and FAs? If so he has done a fine job with our player's contracts but what about FAs? Drew Brees was the best he has ever done, it was a great one too, but other than Drew, who?

He wouldn't be the one who is picking the player to negotiate with. He's more of a numbers and negotiating guy.

Much like when you interview for a job you interview with Hiring Managers who do the evaluation and then in many cases turn you over to someone in Human Resources who will do the negotiation for your salary. The difference here is that there are contracts and much bigger numbers than you or I negotiate for .

 

[Slim K]

He wouldn't be the one who is picking the player to negotiate with. He's more of a numbers and negotiating guy.

Much like when you interview for a job you interview with Hiring Managers who do the evaluation and then in many cases turn you over to someone in Human Resources who will do the negotiation for your salary. The difference here is that there are contracts and much bigger numbers than you or I negotiate for .

Hey! My chores salary is getting pretty big, alright. And thanks for clearing that up

 

[syracuse saint]

I have heard Ball is the man. I wonder, though, who scouted and agreed on Jason David and KK? Those were not wise business/football decisions.

 

[zorro37]

We need to try everything we can to keep him.
Loomis sometimes gets some flak for not moving on certain players (even though we will likely never know if he did or not), but him and Russ Ball, from what I have heard, do an unparalled job of contract negotion and balancing the salary cap.
With players such as Marques Colston, Jahri Evans, and Will Smith likely to be tied down to massive deals in the near future, I want him there to make sure it works out for all parties.

 

[hookedsaint]

I heard Mike D say on WWL earlier in the week that Russ Ball will be a GM one day and he was held highly by teams across the league.

 

[workhorse]

I have heard Ball is the man. I wonder, though, who scouted and agreed on Jason David and KK? Those were not wise business/football decisions.

Personally, I thought getting KK was a great move, but he hasn't been utilized by the coaching staff enough.

Jason David was the teams 3rd or 4th choice that got done days before the draft so we could feel food going BPA in the draft and not HAVE to draft a CB for need. At the time, everyone thought it was a brilliant move, both for getting the player and the creative way we got it done, pinning the Colts and not letting them match the restricted free agents contract. hindsight has proven that David may not fit the scheme, but I still say if we had better safety play and some pressure on the quarterback, the move wouldn't have looked so bad.

 

[meily]

Personally, I thought getting KK was a great move, but he hasn't been utilized by the coaching staff enough.

Jason David was the teams 3rd or 4th choice that got done days before the draft so we could feel food going BPA in the draft and not HAVE to draft a CB for need. At the time, everyone thought it was a brilliant move, both for getting the player and the creative way we got it done, pinning the Colts and not letting them match the restricted free agents contract. hindsight has proven that David may not fit the scheme, but I still say if we had better safety play and some pressure on the quarterback, the move wouldn't have looked so bad.

Agreed, David was corner help, he wasn't signed to be a shut down corner, he was signed because he makes plays in the secondary but like you said, he want the first choice, but was still a good pickup, he gave up more than his share of plays, but he made plays to, lets not overexadurate the negative and forget the positive, he did create turnovers and did score for the defense, though that was the first game of the season, it still counts on the stat sheet.

 

[Ti Rider]

From the article it sounds like it's a done deal to me. I hate to hear it because the Saints FO has actually done a competent job of getting guys to sign reasonable contracts (for the most partt, excluding C. Grant). Hopefully Loomis has seen this coming and is prepared to offer Ball a better deal, or has a replacement waiting, or has groomed a young guy for the job. Sadly the Saints have never been able maintain a consistently good FO and that has led to a inconsistent product on the field......