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2014 Free Agent Report Cards
Posted on 3/6/15 at 8:27 pm
Posted on 3/6/15 at 8:27 pm
Bill Barnwell article from Grantland
LINK /
New Orleans Saints
Re-signed: Jimmy Graham (franchise tag, later signed multiyear deal), Parys Haralson, Robert Meachem
Arrived: Jairus Byrd, Champ Bailey, Jonathan Goodwin
Departed: Jabari Greer, Will Smith, Roman Harper, Brian de la Puente, Lance Moore, Malcolm Jenkins, Tom Johnson
The Saints went all in for 2014, attempting to build a dominant secondary to play behind those exotic Rob Ryan blitzes and their perennially excellent offense. Nobody expected them to carve out the cap space to sign Byrd, but releasing several longtime veterans and structuring the deal to pay Byrd with a two-tier signing bonus allowed them to fit the market’s preeminent safety under their cap. He was a mess, repeatedly missing tackles in the running game during the first month of the season before going on injured reserve. Bailey, expected to start, failed to make the team out of camp and left the Saints with a gaping hole at cornerback. Meanwhile, defensive contributors like Jenkins and Johnson performed effectively elsewhere at cheaper salaries. The result of all this spending? A 7-9 record and a team still nearly $16 million over the salary cap.
Grade: F
LINK /
New Orleans Saints
Re-signed: Jimmy Graham (franchise tag, later signed multiyear deal), Parys Haralson, Robert Meachem
Arrived: Jairus Byrd, Champ Bailey, Jonathan Goodwin
Departed: Jabari Greer, Will Smith, Roman Harper, Brian de la Puente, Lance Moore, Malcolm Jenkins, Tom Johnson
The Saints went all in for 2014, attempting to build a dominant secondary to play behind those exotic Rob Ryan blitzes and their perennially excellent offense. Nobody expected them to carve out the cap space to sign Byrd, but releasing several longtime veterans and structuring the deal to pay Byrd with a two-tier signing bonus allowed them to fit the market’s preeminent safety under their cap. He was a mess, repeatedly missing tackles in the running game during the first month of the season before going on injured reserve. Bailey, expected to start, failed to make the team out of camp and left the Saints with a gaping hole at cornerback. Meanwhile, defensive contributors like Jenkins and Johnson performed effectively elsewhere at cheaper salaries. The result of all this spending? A 7-9 record and a team still nearly $16 million over the salary cap.
Grade: F
4
Posted on 3/6/15 at 8:35 pm to MikeD
Well, when you put it like that.
Posted on 3/6/15 at 8:43 pm to MikeD
Ouch
Posted on 3/6/15 at 8:47 pm to MikeD
He sure did leave off a lot of resigned guys and a few free agents.
And forget about where we started cap wise and how we were able to sign two of the best players at their position(Graham and Byrd) to market Val contracts.
And never mind that it was more more guys we already had failing then it was the free agents.
And Tom Johnson. Really? I have to check but I doubt he did jack shite. DLP didn't even play and Collins didn't exactly light it up. Vilma and Smith were done. Moore didn't do shite. Carolina bitched about Harper's coverage all year. Jenkins was the only one that really did shite.
And forget about where we started cap wise and how we were able to sign two of the best players at their position(Graham and Byrd) to market Val contracts.
And never mind that it was more more guys we already had failing then it was the free agents.
And Tom Johnson. Really? I have to check but I doubt he did jack shite. DLP didn't even play and Collins didn't exactly light it up. Vilma and Smith were done. Moore didn't do shite. Carolina bitched about Harper's coverage all year. Jenkins was the only one that really did shite.
Posted on 3/6/15 at 8:52 pm to bonethug0108
Well looks like Johnson did fairly well. 
6 sacks and a 5.2 grade on PFF. Played about half the snaps. Only 13 tackles and a negative grade in run d though.
That said it was going to be Walker or Johnson and I like Walker much more. So I don't think we lost there.
6 sacks and a 5.2 grade on PFF. Played about half the snaps. Only 13 tackles and a negative grade in run d though.
That said it was going to be Walker or Johnson and I like Walker much more. So I don't think we lost there.
This post was edited on 3/6/15 at 8:56 pm
Posted on 3/6/15 at 9:25 pm to MikeD
Everyone is going to eat their damn words next year when Byrd tears shite up and leads the league in turnovers
Posted on 3/6/15 at 10:21 pm to WicKed WayZ
I know Byrd has caught some flack this past year but he is a legit safety. He tore it up in college and at Buffalo. Missing most of training camp didn't help him. I really wish they would have put him on PUP last year, assuming if he was eligible for it.
I can't believe the name escapes me but the DT at Bills who played for LSU is good friends with Byrd and a buddy of mine from Ruston talks with him a lot. He said Byrd was definitely not ready to come back as early as he did last year.
Eta: Kyle Williams
I can't believe the name escapes me but the DT at Bills who played for LSU is good friends with Byrd and a buddy of mine from Ruston talks with him a lot. He said Byrd was definitely not ready to come back as early as he did last year.
Eta: Kyle Williams
This post was edited on 3/6/15 at 10:32 pm
Posted on 3/6/15 at 10:29 pm to windshieldman
He didn't miss most of training camp. He missed ALL of the offseason. We had no time at all to figure out how these guys would play together and Byrd had no time to physically get in to Rob's system before the season.
So yeah that should change dramatically this year and I think you'll see Byrd doing what he was brought in to do.
The other issue was having Vaccaro trying to exclusively play a more traditional safety role early in the year. It wasn't until well after Byrd was injured we moved him back to his hybrid role.
If we can get a legit number two corner I think you see a much different secondary this year.
So yeah that should change dramatically this year and I think you'll see Byrd doing what he was brought in to do.
The other issue was having Vaccaro trying to exclusively play a more traditional safety role early in the year. It wasn't until well after Byrd was injured we moved him back to his hybrid role.
If we can get a legit number two corner I think you see a much different secondary this year.
This post was edited on 3/6/15 at 10:31 pm
Posted on 3/6/15 at 11:38 pm to bonethug0108
Perfect!!! When everybody bitches and thinks we suck and have no chance is when we kick arse!! Give me the chatter this off season compared to last seasons "They are going to win the Super Bowl" chatter any day!
Posted on 3/7/15 at 11:51 am to Meateye
You forgot Sproles, so is it a F- now
Posted on 3/7/15 at 12:06 pm to Smedium27
There were only two things Sproles did well last year and that was his punt returns (career year but we don't have Philly's special teams and he would not have done that here; he was getting worse every year here) and his yards per carry(which against the Eagles had a better line than us and he was getting worse every year here at rushing). He still only had about 50 rushes(which was in line with how many he was getting here).
Where he was still effective for us was in the passing game and he had a huge drop off there going for only 40 catches when he never had less than 70 for us.
In short, he would not have done well in the two things he did well in Philly here. The one thing we missed was him in the passing game and Philly didn't use him as well there.
Where he was still effective for us was in the passing game and he had a huge drop off there going for only 40 catches when he never had less than 70 for us.
In short, he would not have done well in the two things he did well in Philly here. The one thing we missed was him in the passing game and Philly didn't use him as well there.
This post was edited on 3/7/15 at 12:08 pm
Posted on 3/7/15 at 12:12 pm to bonethug0108
quote:
Philly didn't use him as well there.
I feel Sproles out doing McCoy last year with his limited touches is a big part of McCoy leaving
Posted on 3/7/15 at 1:04 pm to Smedium27
quote:
I feel Sproles out doing McCoy last year with his limited touches is a big part of McCoy leaving
If that's the case Philly is stupid! Sproles is 31 and wont play much longer, meanwhile McCoy is only 26 and has at least 6 years left in him.
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