re: The fact the Saints let Collins out of this State..

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Nobody said ask the players to "tank" the game.

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When you don't play your best players you send a message to your team that you don't care about the outcome of the game. Coaches expect players to go out and give 100% every snap, players expect their coaches to put them in the best position to win. I can guarantee you, them putting their first stringers in the game was a way to test their resolve at finishing out a game, even when the championship is out of the question. Afterall, it wasn't the backups that lost those games for us (with the exception of maybe Bryce Harris).

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why don't you explain exactly what was the point of playing 1st string against Tampa Bay 3rd stringers

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Could some of the guys at the back of the roster have used more time in that game? Absolutely, but if you recall they were using some of those snaps to put players in unconventional roles (they did some actual 3-4 looks in that game). They were evaluating their "1st string" for the following year.

Also, this is the NFL. Every player in a final 53 roster are better than average football players that performed at a high level at the college level or have proven themselves to earn a spot on a team. When coaches say there is no tiered system on their team, they are being accurate (especially in the NFL).

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Instead of getting to pick #9, the Saints pick 13 and watch the guy they want go 1 fricking pick in front of them. So what do they do, pick a backup! Yay for that all important win over TB

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Congratulations on your perfect 20/20 in hindsight, but sometimes closing out a season on a high note means a lot for the confidence going into the next season. Plus you never know what's going to happen on draft day.

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Yeah, cause Shelton and Collins wouldn't make an immediate impact or shore up the future of the team. Why do people have to swallow everything fed to them? The team fricked up. It's ok to admit that.

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So by me saying that last draft was not that bad, and playing to win your final game of the season, I am "swallowing everything fed" to me? Give me a break, you are making judgments in hindsight from the stands with no idea what is going on at the team level. It was obvious there were going to need to be major changes at all levels of the organization and they are going to view playtime as the best litmus for making those decisions.

Someone please kill this thread

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And to Add, you're wanting to tell players who are playing for contracts, playing for statically season bonuses, Playing trying to showcase or playing to make a team for next yr. Plus, a significant amount of players won't even be in the locker room the following yr, but you want to tell them to go out there and lay down and lose.

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You guys are saying things nobody said. I said "why not play Griffin and SJB" as 2 examples. When is that saying "lay down and lose"? Those are 2 players we knew would be around at least until camp and pre-season. Brees and (insert starting DB name here) were also going to be here this year no matter what. So why not see what Griffin can do? Why no see what a so-far bust of a 2nd round pick can do against a 1 win shitbag team? What did that win do for Drew Brees? Because that's who led them to victory. You really think this was players who "might not still be on the team"? Give me a break.

Ryan Griffin goes in the game instead of Drew Brees in the 2nd half and if the Saints still win, awesome. If they lose, at least they saw what he can do leading the team. At least they can see if SJB is going to have a shot. That's not laying down.

And to bountyhunter, there's not hindsight when you pick #9 or you pick #13. There's players that get drafted in front of you.

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Maybe, just maybe, the 2nd round pick just wasn't ready last year?

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SJB wasn't ready to step on a football field against a TB team that was laying on the ground? Really?

Then you follow it up with this:

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So quick to write him off?

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I didn't "write him off" as you actually bolded the words I used

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so-far

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He's a 2nd round pick and according to you wasn't ready to play in the 16th game of the season against the worst team in football last year. So yes, "so-far" he's been a bust. A player picked that early doesn't even have the confidence of the coaches to play against garbage so what would you call him? Or how about a better question for you; do you think the Saints would pick SJB again in the 2nd round?

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Again, if a player isn't read in practice why suffer him the humiliation of being thrown into the pressure cooker of a real game?

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A real game? You can't say that seriously with a straight face can you? Did we watch the same 2nd half? And I would think it's more humiliating that he can't play in a game.

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The draft position hadn't been worked out by that point yet.

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Uh, 15 games had been played, you already knew about where the Saints would pick with a win or with a loss.

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There is no team (which is made up of players, not draft analysts) who would want to go out and end a season like that.

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That team screwed themselves nearly the whole season. Now they want to go and play 60 minutes hard core against backups? Great, play people who need playing time then. shite, Griffin could have still led them to a win and that would have been really inspiring. But for Brees to win against the practice squad? Yay

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I am just saying that from a players perspective, put them in the best position to win every single game and you will get respect. Just how it is. Again, no player respects the idea of racing to the bottom.

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Were you a starter? Did you ride the bench? Do you think other players would have liked to have played? And as far as racing to the bottom, they did that to themselves. This last, mean-nothing game certainly wasn't going to be a nail in the coffin should they have lost. But picking top 10 would have made an actual difference.