Below are answers to some of this weeks reader questions submitted yesterday. More answers to your questions throughout today. Special thanks to all those that participated. Feel free to continue the discussion in the comment section below.
What is your take on Mitch King's performance so far? - Jeremy S.
I didn't really notice him during the game but he looked good when I re-watched the game a few times on television. Looks like he's got a high motor. I think he's definitely got a shot at making the team if he continues to look this good through preseason. If not, I hope the team gets the chance to put him on the practice squad.
Chris Ivory seems to be taking an awful long time to heal up. Seems to me that they're not telling us everything. Is there another reason why he keeps failing his physical, or is he just a real slow healer? What do you think Dave? - Tommy V.
Remember that he just got sports hernia surgery so he's got that to recover from while he continues to rehab his ankle/foot/whatever. Personally, I'm not optimistic. I expect Ivory to be placed on the PUP list and will need to miss the first six games.
Brees' Term of Service: When do you think he will call it quits or cause the front office to decide to go in a different direction? How many years do you think will be on his next contract? And when do you think we should draft the heir-apparent? - Old G.
I couldn't tell you when Brees plans to retire or when he'll no longer be starter material but I would think his new contract would be for six years. I think six years from now would be a good time to reassess Drew's value because I would expect his production to have dropped off at that point. All of this means that I think the team should be looking for a quarterback of the future in about three years, four or five years if Drew ages well.
What are the odds of Canfield getting the back up job with Daniel getting traded? - Bond C.
Are we talking about right now? I haven't really seen much of Sean Canfield but I don't think the coaching staff would be very comfortable with him as their backup quarterback. If we're talking about in a few years, there's more of a possibility but even then, I wouldn't count on it.
If you had to name 10 current Saints players who were with the team in some capacity last season, that will never play another regular season down as a Saint, who would they be? - Cold P.
Interesting question. You say players "with the team in some capacity last season" so I am going to include practice squad and injured reserve. Here's my list:
Jeff Charleston
Jo-Lonn Dunbar
Sean Canfield
Clint Ingram
Pierson Prioleau
Tyler Lorenzen
Courtney Roby
Leigh Torrence
Adrian Arrington
Montez Billings
On a scale of 1 to 10, where are our offensive tackles going to be when the season starts on their ability to keep Brees out of the hospital. 10 being a clean uniform....1 being the grave. - Jeff B.
Right now I'm about 50/50 in my confidence of the Saints offensive line at this point so I'd have to say a 5. On one hand the team is not very deep at the position and the thought of either Charles Brown or Zach Strief starting isn't very comforting. On the other hand, I'd really like to think the coaching staff knows what they're doing and knows something I don't.