There's another arguably crucial free agent the Saints need to deal with this off-season: Tracy Porter. But amid all the chatter surrounding new contracts for Drew Brees, Carl Nicks and Marques Colston, he's sort of gotten lost in the mix by media and fans, and undoubtedly been put on the team's back burner for a while. So what does the future hold for the 25-year-old food-loving cornerback free agent?
Had Porter continued his meteoric rise to becoming one of the league's elite cornerbacks following his back-breaking interception of Peyton Manning in the waning seconds Super Bowl XLIV, then he might be included with Brees, Nicks and Colston as a matter of importance. Because he really hasn't been the same since that play, however, it seems much of Who Dat Nation could either take him of leave him.
Here are his career stats:
CAREER STATS | |||||||||||||||
Season | Team | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
G | GS | Comb | Total | Ast | Sck | SFTY | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TDs | FF | ||
2011 | New Orleans Saints | 14 | 11 | 52 | 42 | 10 | 0.0 | -- | 10 | 1 | -7 | -7.0 | -7 | 0 | 2 |
2010 | New Orleans Saints | 12 | 12 | 60 | 45 | 15 | 0.0 | -- | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
2009 | New Orleans Saints | 12 | 11 | 57 | 48 | 9 | 0.0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 72 | 18.0 | 54T | 1 | 2 |
2008 | New Orleans Saints | 5 | 5 | 25 | 23 | 2 | 1.0 | -- | 5 | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
TOTAL | 194 | 158 | 36 | 1.0 | 0 | 33 | 7 | 95 | -- | 54 | 1 | 4 |
How will the Saints approach Tracy Porter's contract negotiations and how would you like them to proceed? With the emergence of Patrick Robinson last season and so much more on their plate currently, perhaps the Saints just plan to let him walk. At the very least, they probably won't be offering him very much money.
We might be able to get an idea of Porter's value by looking at other cornerback contracts, so what players compare to Porter across the NFL? And how much interest will Porter garner from other teams around the league on the free agent market?
And one final question: as fans, is our judgement clouded by the memories Porter has given us and his contribution to the Saints Super Bowl run?
Discuss.