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Payton restructuring the Saints
By Mike Detillier
The New Orleans Saints have made a dizzying array of personnel moves in the first week of free agency.
Head coach Sean Payton has set the football bar high for the Saints and 7-9 does not cut the mustard for him.
Payton will restructure this team his way. If he goes down, it will be with his fingerprints on the anchor. He did this in 2006 inheriting a team void of talent, and he rebuilt one of the NFL's worst teams in 2005 to one that went to the NFC championship game in 2006.
For the most part, restructuring the Saints comes down to personnel, but also it is changing the culture of this team.
Leadership is talked about all the time, but to be honest, it is more built on chemistry.
In the NFL, you aren't measured on one play or one year. You are measured by teams and consistency.
Last season, the Saints lacked chemistry, and it showed on the field as a strong group of players were not mentally prepared to play every week. That winning chemistry was lost during the year.
For the past two months, I said that the Saints would re-sign halfback Mark Ingram and quickly address the need areas at offensive center and cornerback. Both spots were cavernous holes for the Saints last season. To get value, you have to give up some value.
That is what happened when the Saints traded away superstar tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick in 2015 to the Seattle Seahawks for center Max Unger and a first-round choice in 2015. Graham has caught more passes than any other tight end to start an NFL career (386), and only Rob Gronkowski has caught more touchdowns with 51. Graham was a nightmare mismatch in the redzone and was an outstanding on third down.
When you look at players the Saints drafted, Graham's production only ranked behind star players Willie Roaf, Ricky Jackson and Morten Anderson.
Graham was a great player, but last year after an offseason of turbulence due to contract talks for the most part, Graham was just good not great. He was injured last year, but when you think about Graham's difficult background and his comet ride to the top of the football ladder, those contract discussions and disagreements affected his overall play.
At times, the former Miami (Fla.) basketball player seemed to sulk on the field if he was not the focal point of the team's passing attack and dropped more easy catches than any other time in his career. But Graham was still a premier player at times, and his skills landed the Saints one of the top two centers in the NFC in Max Unger and a late first-round pick.
Unger along with Andy Frederick of the Dallas Cowboys are the two best centers in the NFC. At 6-foot-5, Unger is a tall center and has the athletic skillset to handle the 330-pound noseguard on one play and a defensive end shoved inside to get pressure the next snap. The former Oregon standout is a terrific run blocker, a first-rate technician as a pass blocker and a great communicator.
A former Seahawks assistant coach told me that Unger is one of the smartest players he has ever coached.
"Max is a special player," the coach said. "I have been around a lot of good players and people who understand this game at a different level, but Max is the smartest football pIayer I have ever dealt with. His communication skills are off the charts. He is a former college tackle now playing center. He understands blocking schemes and angles and making sure that the launch pad element of a quarterback is clean. Unger is a terrific run blocker. He's a very physical guy and he just hammers you in the run game. Quarterback Russell Wilson is a terrific player, but it was Unger who settled things down upfront and made him comfortable in the pocket and also orchestrating some continuity along the offensive line. Russell was pro ready, but what really helped was having Unger anchor inside."
Unger now anchors a middle that was targeted by teams when trying to get interior pressure at Drew Brees. And with the late first-round pick, the Saints can address another need spot at either wide receiver, tight end, a pass rusher or inside linebacker.
The signing of cornerback Brandon Browner fills the huge void at the cornerback slot. No matter how good Keenan Lewis was on one side opposing teams continued to go after whoever was the other starting cornerback.
You accept the good and the bad with Browner. At 6-4, unsusually tall for a cornerback, with a huge wingspan, Browner is a ballhawk, aggressive with receivers and loves to play "press" cover sets and throw a receiver off his route by disrupting the timing of a pass. But we have seen that referees today are calling the game closer than ever before, and last season Browner was a magnet for penalties.
Browner's aggressive nature is built around subtly pulling, tugging and pushing a receiver off his route, and he will make some great plays and also give up some, and get penalized for others. But Browner is a huge upgrade over what the Saints had last season at cornerback.
So, the two major needs were filled and then Payton wanted a "speed" element at halfback.
With Mark Ingram under contact and filling the "lead pony" role as a runner, Payton wanted what Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles brought to the table as an edge runner and receiver.
The Saints got one of the speediest backs in the league in former Buffalo Bills halfback C.J. Spiller. The former Clemson speedster adds a "one-step" fast runner the Saints have not had since the heydays of Bush. Spiller is cat quick, has instant acceleration skills and big strike capability as a runner. But where he may really make a huge impact is in the receiving department. Spiller has sure hands as a receiver and he is a major mismatch for defenders downfield to cover one-on-one, and once he catches it, you better tackle him quickly or he will break free on a long run.
The issue has been injuries.
One scout for the Bills described Spiller as "A great young kid. Wow, is he fast out in the flat. He has excellent rushing instincts, he is elusive and dynamite as a receiver, but he is also like a track sprinter too. He was always nicked up with a leg injury and then last season the shoulder. On that fast track in New Orleans he could be a huge impact player as a runner/receiver combo. For Spiller it is all about health."
And then the Saints dealt a talented young end in Kenny Stills to the Miami Dolphins for veteran inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and a third-round pick in 2015.
Ellerbe is similar to former inside linebacker Curtis Lofton. He is tough against the run, physical, smart, gets to the hole quick and, when healthy, is a better cover guy than Lofton. But the key is that Stills, a fifth-round pick in 2013, was traded for a third-round pick and a starting veteran inside linebacker.
It is the start of the retooling job done by Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis. But the key is just not getting veteran free agents but also hitting big come draft day.
Right now the Saints have two first-round picks, a second-round pick, two third-round picks and an extra fifth-round pick in the trade of offensive guard Ben Grubbs to the Kansas City Chiefs.
For Payton, he is doing it his way, like it or not.
In a crossroads offseason, Payton has to get that talent evaluator hat on snug and hit big on players like he did in 2006.
Through the draft, free agency and trades, the Saints are busy and this is just the start.
Hold on to the rails because it will be a wild offseason ride for the Black and Gold.
Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeDetillier