Quote:
Originally Posted by fred8615
I'm still trying to figure out just what the heck (pardon my language) the Saints are doing! Trading their best pass catcher (Graham) a good young talent (Stills), and an offensive lineman (Grubbs), while signing another running back (Spiller)???
I hope Loomis and Payton know what they're doing. Especially with all those draft picks.
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well so far I agree with all of the moves with the exception that they should have gotten rid of graham after the lawsuit last year when they could have gotten even more draft picks for him (a #1 and possibly a #2 as well that year and a #3 added the next year) and they would have not given up the big signing bonus and large amount of guaranteed money he got from them.
add to that the fact that if they didn't sell their souls to keep him, they would have been able to keep sproles rather then be forced to let him go because they didn't have the money to keep him because all the money went to graham, they also lost a good offensive starting lineman and defensive starting lineman because all the money went to graham, graham got the money so they all had to go along with the saints ability to be competitive on the field.
unger
unger, well he has had some injuries so there is a "small" question mark there, but he is a pro bowl center who is the best in the league at run blocking and "nobody gets near my quarterback" pass blocking kind of center the saints have desperately needed for many years now. trading him straight up for graham, even with no draft picks, would have been ok with me for getting this kind of talent in the middle of the line.
browner
browner, what more needs to be said, he is the shut down corner the saints have desperately needed for a long time and will be a great immediate upgrade to our defense
spiller
spiller is a younger version of Darren sprolles and all the pundants agree he was just what the saints needed, he is a reggie bush daren sprolles type guy who is younger, stronger and faster then both of them, he just hasn't been in the league long enough or used in that role enough to be as talkedabout a player but make no mistake, this guy is very talented and a hell of a steal for what the saints signed him for.
graham
graham has been alligator arming passes for the last 3 years and hasn't reached out to catch a pass since his rookie year. if any team goes to press coverage and bumps him at the line he gives up and doesn't even try to run his route at all.
yes he is talented, but far from worth the money he demands or the money they gave him and the other tight ends we have now do a better job of getting open and going up and catching those tough passes where they might get hit on that graham decides to not even try to catch.
shawn payton and drew brees have used a one man game plan for the last 2 years in a row, throw to graham even if he is covered by 4 guys and so what if it gets intercepted or run the ball now and then just so graham isn't thrown to on every play, just 2 out of 3 of them. they haven't gotten predictable, they have become a one man team, stop him and the saints go home losers and all the other teams know this.
before graham brees was known to throw the ball to anyone who gets open so defenses couldn't stop us because even no name receivers would get the ball yet all that changed when they got graham and decided he was THE guy and no other plan for success was even considered so when teams stopped graham by simply bumping him at the line the saints lose and only score 7 or 10 points.
with graham being gone the saints will finally have to come up with a true game plan that involves the whole team and a strategy that can be changed or altered on the spot if things don't go well.
stills
stills is and was a good receiver but not a great one so getting him exchanged for a desperately needed draft pick to help our sad sack defense and get some offensive line help was a very good move IMHO.
grubbs
grubbs was a bust ever since he got here, he was better then the other guys around him but that's sadly pathetic and not a compliment suggesting he was anything but a mediocre talent at the position. most analists agree he got beat regularly and was a large part of why brees got sacked so much last year and he never lived up to his potential or the hopes coaches had for him here.
the 2015 draft ???
what is most scary so far is that in the past few drafts the saints have shown themselves to be beyond clueless at drafting good talent so now that they have the picks they need to improve this team, will they pick wisely or select bad players as they have consistently done the last few years.