Saints [possibly] have 39 million in cap space?!?! (1 Viewer)

[RaginCajun83]

I never said anything about which way to build (draft or FA), I was just saying that with this much cap space how could one not spend to improve the team

 

[jazzjack]

Sign Smith, Colston, and Evans first.

 

['79 Saints]

The Dolphins are at the top with $44 mil.

It will be interesting to see how much they spend in FA... I suspect they will raid the Cowboys for at least Flozell Adams to protect Matt Ryan's blindside.

Currently, the Rams are at the bottom of the list being $6.2 mil over the cap. They have to do some restructuring just to draft (which they will... it's just a number right now).

My best guess is that you'll see one "big name" FA signed to a big contract, a couple of unexpected trades, Colston, Faine and Evans taken care of, and a draft with a couple of players where people on this board will go "WTH?"

The other FA's will be on the smaller scale... the so-called "second tier" players... but there will be several of them.

 

[Geldo]

The Dolphins are at the top with $44 mil.

It will be interesting to see how much they spend in FA... I suspect they will raid the Cowboys for at least Flozell Adams to protect Matt Ryan's blindside.

Currently, the Rams are at the bottom of the list being $6.2 mil over the cap. They have to do some restructuring just to draft (which they will... it's just a number right now).

My best guess is that you'll see one "big name" FA signed to a big contract, a couple of unexpected trades, Colston, Faine and Evans taken care of, and a draft with a couple of players where people on this board will go "WTH?"

The other FA's will be on the smaller scale... the so-called "second tier" players... but there will be several of them.

They got more holes than a swiss cheese - you don't see them trading down and perhaps taking Woodson or Brohm in round 2?

 

[stadanko]

Because what team exactly has loaded up on overpriced FA's and won a superbowl lately?

Its not the way you win a superbowl. You win a superbowl by building through the draft and then, if your a piece or two away fill a few needs. We are nowhere near a piece or two away, so what we'd end up doing is spending serious cash on FA's, while not having built our base yet and we'll fall short. Then after 2-3 drafts have passed those FA's will be gone because of cap concerns but we'll finally have our base. We aren't in the position yet to grab Briggs and Samuel because we don't have the pieces around them to make them successful.

The Redskins and 49ers are very good examples and proof that going after bigname FA's without having a strong team already built through the draft is not a recipe for the superbowl.

The past three superbowl champs? Their entire teams almost exclusively built through the draft. The Colts entire team was drafted.

What should we do with this cap space? Sign one fair priced FA, of which I think Thomas would be, and use the rest to resign key players like Smith, Colston, Faine, etc. You can frontload their deals so we have plenty of cap space when we are finally in the position to plug a few holes with an overpriced FA or two.

I've seen this said by myself and a few other people on SR.com, but I'm gonna say it one more time. We can sign free agents WHILE building through the draft. Building, as the name implies, takes time. If we have the money(and we do) I don't see anything wrong with spending it on some proven defensive veterans to play while we develop our draft picks and also help in the development of our draft picks. No one is suggesting that we become like the skins or dolphins where we base our entire roster around FA or trade away our picks for veterans, we simply want a good defense next year.I think the best way to do that is to sign some playmakers in free agency AND draft the best guys we can. Maybe out of those transactions we'll end up with a least a couple of playmakers on defense. We don't have to be conservative with the cap, one year of overspending a bit isn't going to drive us into "cap hell". The build through the draft argument just doesn't hold any water because we have the money to sign FA's AND pay all of our draft picks and still be under the cap. Okay, one more time so we can all be sure we got it. We aren't going to lose anything in the draft by signing free agents. We won't lose picks, we won't lose the ability to sign picks, we won't lose the ability to re-sign our successful past draft picks. There is no reason(other than them not wanting to come here) why we can't get some playmakers.

 

[GoldRush26]

Because what team exactly has loaded up on overpriced FA's and won a superbowl lately?

Its not the way you win a superbowl. You win a superbowl by building through the draft and then, if your a piece or two away fill a few needs. We are nowhere near a piece or two away, so what we'd end up doing is spending serious cash on FA's, while not having built our base yet and we'll fall short. Then after 2-3 drafts have passed those FA's will be gone because of cap concerns but we'll finally have our base. We aren't in the position yet to grab Briggs and Samuel because we don't have the pieces around them to make them successful.

The Redskins and 49ers are very good examples and proof that going after bigname FA's without having a strong team already built through the draft is not a recipe for the superbowl.

The past three superbowl champs? Their entire teams almost exclusively built through the draft. The Colts entire team was drafted.

What should we do with this cap space? Sign one fair priced FA, of which I think Thomas would be, and use the rest to resign key players like Smith, Colston, Faine, etc. You can frontload their deals so we have plenty of cap space when we are finally in the position to plug a few holes with an overpriced FA or two.

That's all well and good, but have you met the Saints scouting department. In case you haven't, they suck.

This team will continue to be one of the worst drafting teams in history. I don't see how any of us should expect that to magically change overnight. We got really lucky in '06. Other than 06' I can't name any of our later round picks that are still in the NFL, other than Marc Bulger. You say we should build through the draft? All teams attempt to do that. Isn't that what the Saints have tried to do for years?

Signing less expensive free agents won't somehow make drafting more successful. If this team keeps drafting the way they did last year, then we will never be in a position to plug holes with over priced free agents.

The thing is not to focus on one area more than the other. You find players that can make an impact and you bring them to your team. Where you do it from shouldn't be as much of an emphasis. If they can find players that can make a impact in free agency, they should pursue them. If they can find players in the draft that can make an impact, they should pursue them. You can look at the Colts and appreciate what they do, but we don't have Bill Polian. And apparently he makes a big difference.

 

['79 Saints]

They got more holes than a swiss cheese - you don't see them trading down and perhaps taking Woodson or Brohm in round 2?

They are shoppng the pick, but I don't think there will be too many buyers. It takes a lot of ammo to move up to that spot, and I don't see a player on this draft board who fills that need.

They'll take Ryan and try to trade down with some other picks. They aren't going to build a contender overnight, but with the cap space they've cleared, they can get some free agents to help turn the franchise around.

 

['79 Saints]

That's all well and good, but have you met the Saints scouting department. In case you haven't, they suck.

This team will continue to be one of the worst drafting teams in history. I don't see how any of us should expect that to magically change overnight. We got really lucky in '06. Other than 06' I can't name any of our later round picks that are still in the NFL, other than Marc Bulger. You say we should build through the draft? All teams attempt to do that. Isn't that what the Saints have tried to do for years?

No, I haven't met the Saints scouting department, but then again neither have you.

If the Saints are one of the worst drafting teams in history, can you name how many times in the past 20 years they have had the #1 overall pick? How about how many times they picked in the top 3? Top 5? Top 10?

Cleveland, Cincinnatti, Arizona, Houston, New England, and yes, even the Colts beg to differ.

Heck, the Jets and Falcons have had more high picks than the Saints...

The Saints have had trouble building through the draft because of an inconsistent philsophy between the FO and the coaching staff (see Haslett's tenure).

We've drafted well on offense, but defensively we haven't. This is Payton's third year, so let's see if this draft class is more like '06 than '07 before we make blanket judgments.

 

[Nonreg]

Since this is confirmed there is absolutely no reason not to sign either Briggs or Samuel.
Cmon do it....No Mora Excuses Benson

actually there is. the player has to want to come here.

 

[The_Burning_Bush]

Spend it all.

 

[GoldRush26]

No, I haven't met the Saints scouting department, but then again neither have you.

If the Saints are one of the worst drafting teams in history, can you name how many times in the past 20 years they have had the #1 overall pick? How about how many times they picked in the top 3? Top 5? Top 10?

Cleveland, Cincinnatti, Arizona, Houston, New England, and yes, even the Colts beg to differ.

Heck, the Jets and Falcons have had more high picks than the Saints...

The Saints have had trouble building through the draft because of an inconsistent philsophy between the FO and the coaching staff (see Haslett's tenure).

We've drafted well on offense, but defensively we haven't. This is Payton's third year, so let's see if this draft class is more like '06 than '07 before we make blanket judgments.

So they've been mediocre for the past 20 years or so. I guess the front office deserves an award for that, huh?

Like i said in another thread, this team's scouting department is good enough to average 1 solid starter a year through the draft, and then a whole bunch of backups, practice squad bodies, and players that end up out of the league. Pretty much seeing as it's pretty hard to mess up a first round pick (but they've even managed to do that quite a few times) we can usually expect that solid starter in the first round. Good drafting teams are able to find solid contributors in the later rounds. Other than '06, they haven't done that with any consistency.

Free agency is great. It takes the guesswork out of a lot of player evaluation. All of the players have already had NFL experience, so we already know who's good. Since the Saints scouting dept is so inept at scouting college players, maybe their efforts would be better served to be supplemented with some already proven talent through FA.

This team should go with their strength. Mickey Loomis is a bean counter. Since he's able to manage the cap so well, he should put a good bit of that cap money to use. It's not doing anyone any good holding on to it.

 

[BoNcHiE]

So they've been mediocre for the past 20 years or so. I guess the front office deserves an award for that, huh?

We've had more then one FO in the past twenty years. Loomis has done a good job at managing the cap and producing talent through the draft. We've see alot more then "1 starter a year." Building through the draft is a long process but its reward is longterm success.

 

[TnSaint]

actually there is. the player has to want to come here.

I meant to say there's no reason for us not to shell out the cash and go after one or the other. They obviously are both looking to break the bank. Thanks for the insight on the players wanting to come here as I wasn't aware that even mattered(sarcasm)

 

[Beast]

So they've been mediocre for the past 20 years or so. I guess the front office deserves an award for that, huh?

Like i said in another thread, this team's scouting department is good enough to average 1 solid starter a year through the draft, and then a whole bunch of backups, practice squad bodies, and players that end up out of the league. Pretty much seeing as it's pretty hard to mess up a first round pick (but they've even managed to do that quite a few times) we can usually expect that solid starter in the first round. Good drafting teams are able to find solid contributors in the later rounds. Other than '06, they haven't done that with any consistency.

Actually, and there's a link out there somewhere for this, the Saints rank pretty highly percentage-wise as far as the number of players drafted versus still in the league versus starters versus Pro Bowlers.. It was posted here as recently as last year (around draft time), but I can't remember where it was.. I want to say it was a Don Banks article from CNN..

 

[Nonreg]

I meant to say there's no reason for us not to shell out the cash and go after one or the other. They obviously are both looking to break the bank. Thanks for the insight on the players wanting to come here as I wasn't aware that even mattered(sarcasm)

well then maybe you should say what you ment to say

you can throw all the money in the world at a player, but if in his mind we aren't going to bring him a ring then he will look elsewhere.

its like when you go to a store and want something to drink. there is coke, and pepsi. which tastes better to you? which do you like more? if one was cheaper than the other, would the descion matter to you?