Comment on Top Draft Picks

I found this article yesterday, but with so much other news I decided to skip it. I had already cited like 3 other Times-Pic articles anyway.

But every time I read it my blood boils. This blurb from the article is what REALLY sticks in my craw...

"The top five guys will probably be the top five paid guys at their positions before they even play," said Dallas Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips, a decidedly old-school thinker who'd prefer to see the big money go to the core veterans of a team, five-, six-, seven-year pros who routinely are the backbone of an NFL club.

Tell me any other job, career, assignment, WHATEVER, where a person starts off on the highest financial echelon BEFORE he even gets to the office, job site, store, WHATEVER!

Do you start off as manager of McDonald's and work your way to fries? Do you work your butt off for 20 years as CEO, putting your career before you marriage and kids, in hopes of getting that big promotion to the mail room?

NO!! What upside-down, Seinfeld-esque, bizarro world is the NFL operating in? Feldman!

Take our team for example. Reggie, the second overall pick in 2006 was so hyped and highly-touted after his amazing (and I will give that to him. He was sick. Seriously.) college career. And so, as is the culture in the NFL today, we "made it rain" on Reggie (do I owe Pacman royalties for using his phrase). And of course, being the god-awful 3-13 team we were in 2005, we didn't bat an eye. We were the luckiest team alive. "What the hell was Houston thinking!?" we asked ourselves, and anyone who would listen. Never seen him play a down in the NFL? F&%@ you, pay him! He's holding out and missed thee practices? F&%@ YOU, PAY HIM! Fans would have hanged Benson in Jackson Square if he let Reggie go, no matter the cost. We are all guilty, myself included. What else should we have thought?

On the other side of the coin we have Deuce. Going on 8 years now with the Saints. Team loves him. Players love him. Coaches love him. Fans love him. City loves him. The dude is Mother f%&#@ing Theresa if Mother Theresa ran a 4.5 4o and it takes four 350 lb. linemen to take her down. Now, Deuce's contract isn't exactly small potato's. Dude is gonna be fine. But Deuce proved himself. He had already won the approval of his teammates, coaches and fans. We knew he was worth it. Ahem. Three seasons in a row over 1,000 yards. Cough. On top of the fact that he was a nice guy about the whole renegotiation process; "As part of the new contract, Deuce lowered his 2005 base salary by $1.7 million, freeing up cap room for the team."

Such is the discrepancy in our favorite sport. It's the proverbial tail wagging the dog. Young, unproven, possibly talented athletes earning more than dependable, selfless, franchise veterans. To be fair, Reggie has contributed to this team. But because of the amount of money we spent on him without flinching, our expectations are higher. If we are going to pay Reggie more than Deuce, then Reggie should produce more than Deuce.

And what happens if a player like Reggie doesn't work out? Other than the fact that a team spends a lot of time and money figuring out that they shouldn't have spent all that time and money, said team is saddled with a huge contract for a useless player, and burdened by said contract for the following few years, thus limiting their payroll, minimizing their cap room and putting other players in the position of having to make sacrifices such as the one Deuce made for the team in 2005 and may have to make again this year. Does that seem fair? Noble, yes. Fair, I think not. But I guess that is why Deuce is Deuce, and Reggie is, well...not Deuce.

Have a great 2008 season Reggie. Please. We know you have big shoes to fill.

I'll leave you with Bill Polian's words...

"...it needs to change because the draft was designed to positively affect the game on the field and create competitive balance, and now we find it's doing just the opposite."

That felt good. It's nice to have a soapbox, er, I mean blog. I'll take a break from the ranting for a couple of posts.

Glenn, and Rivers and Bush. Oh My!

Alright! Actually some news to talk about today...

First up, Saints sign CB Aaron Glenn. Here is the Times-Pic article. In my opinion, this isn't really such a big deal or anything to get excited about. He's as old as the hills, and he has not been very productive as of late. He only played 5 games last year. Glenn is a journeyman (now his fifth team in 14 years), which means he's got some experience. I don't think he is going to be the panacea this team needs to stop those long pass plays that haunted us all last year, but his maturity and experience could help our younger DB's like Harper, Young and whoever we draft (we will probably get at least one DB in the draft). Check out his stats and form your own opinion.

In other news...The Times-Pic FINALLY got in on the mock draft action and released their first round list. I've got that riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight...........here. Their pick...(drum-roll)...USC LB Keith Rivers. They give their explanation in this article (man, they were busy down at the TP today, huh?).
After having seen DT Sedrick Ellis and Rivers at USC's pro day they think Ellis is too good to still be available and they think Rivers WILL be available and too good to pass up. What about DRC (CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, for those of you NOT in the know) you ask? He slips to the Cardinals at the 16th spot. Why? Because the writers at the Times-Pic know what I have been screamin' the last two weeks...

"...that's one thing we've always known about the Saints -- they love that best athlete available."

Rivers, I think everyone agrees, is the better player at his position and seems to be more of a sure thing than DRC.

The people at the Times-Pic also mentioned we could see a trade up to get DT's Ellis or Dorsey, or a trade down with possibly the Eagles for Lito Sheppard. Ahhhh...now THERE'S an idea (more on that in a bit).

But what light has all of this info from the Times-Pic shined on the draft situation?

Absolutely none. We still have no idea what the Saints are gonna do. There are still a lot of possibilities. And no one seems to know a damn thing (isn't this fun kids).

This bloggers opinion:

• Ellis or Dorsey if either amazingly slipped down (not likely) or they trade up.
  

• Then Rivers if he's still available. I know what your thinking..."But we just got Vilma and Morgan at LB, why get another one?" BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE! (why do you think we got Meachem the year after we had the best receiving corps in the league) We got help at CB too with Gay and now Glenn, so either way, the Saints would be doubling up on talent. And in a draft deep with DB talent, maybe we could take our chances in the second round.

• If Rivers is gone, than I suggest THIS possibility...trade with the Eagles for Sheppard, and pick up, say, DT Kentwan Balmer with the 19th pick. That leaves us with an improved secondary, an improved LB corp and improvement on the inside of the line. We haven't made any improvements on the D-line this season, so this would give us all around improvement. Huh? What do you think?

You guys agree? Love to hear what you think!

One other article to throw at ya'. This one. And it comes aaaaaallllllll the way from Helena, Montana. Why the hell they are talking about Reggie Bush I have NO idea, but god bless them. They've obviously got good taste up there! Anyway, to sum it up, it basically says Reggie needs to be more like Brian Westbrook. Okay. Sounds good to me. We all know about his selfless kneel down on the goal line last season. I love that stuff!

Who will be the next Saints running back?

April 15th.

D(euce)-Day.

That is the deadline the Saints organization has on deciding what they will do with Deuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce McAllister. Pay him his $1 million bonus or say goodbye. We all know Deuce is recovering from his second torn ACL. The decision was actually supposed to be made March 15th, but both Deuce and the Saints agreed to postpone it. (Seems to benefit both parties.) It's all laid out in this article from a few days ago, but it raises an important question (see title of post).

And the nominees are...

The reigning champion. If Deuce winds up convincing the Saints he's worth his $1 million dollar bonus, he has the chance to reclaim his spot as the #1 guy. Other players have come back from two separate torn ACL's, including 49ers RB Frank Gore. If he does play, will he ever be the same? I think most of us hope so.




Reggie. He had his chance last year to be the main guy and didn't deliver. I think its pretty much agreed he's not a between the tackles kinda back. Could he prove me wrong? He has pledged to attend all the OTA's and mini-camp's, as opposed to splitting time between NOLA and LA last year, so maybe he's gotten his head focused.


I had to put this picture on here. I don't think I would be able to find a
picture like this of Deuce. Form your own opinions.



Aaron Stecker. He really came through for the team late last season, showing everyone what kind of offense we SHOULD have been running immediately after Deuce went down. Unfortunately, it was too late. Steck is pretty old though. Not much left in the tank.



Pierre Thomas. Did you see him in the final game of the season against Chicago!? Seriously, did you see him!? He's young. He's got a lot to prove. He has only delivered. Never dissapointed. Watch out for this one!





And the winner is...

Pierre Thomas.

I like him. A LOT. And I know I am not the only one. He played great in pre-season and probably would have gotten more attention for it, but Lance Moore had a great pre-season also. I thought he should have gotten his shot earlier than he did, but I guess the team was worried about his experience, and Aaron Stecker was doing a great job. He is like a bowling ball out there and he loves contact (he said so himself). He has his whole career in front of him, and personality wise, he seems down to earth. Regardless of whether Deuce comes back, Pierre should see some time.

As far as the others, Stecker is getting too old. Maybe we could get another year out of him, but I don't think he has what it takes to be a premiere back.

As I said earlier, Reggie just doesn't have the running style every NFL team needs. Line him out wide and give him pitches, screens and quick outs. Or try and turn him into a full blown receiver. But he will never be Deuce.

So what do you guys think, hope, wish, pray!?

• Will Deuce come back?
• Is Pierre good enough?
• How should the team use Reggie?
• Does Stecker factor in at all?
• Do you like my Reggie Bush picture?
  

Also, K Olindo Mare signed a two year deal with the Seahawks today.

• Was he given a fair chance?
• Do you care?
  

Talk amongst yourselves.