Againts All Odds
Have you stopped yet and thought about how many players the Saints have actually added to their secondary and even the linebacking corp this off-season. I mean, they're not screwin' around this year and I am lovin' it. Compare that with the last two off-seasons of attempted improvement and 2009 blows them both out of the water. The Saints might actually have some legitimate depth on defense for the first time in quite a while. With so many new faces and a new defensive coordinator the odds have to be in the Saints favor that this defense is finally improved. The Saints are giving my cautious optimism a run for the money.
Undrafted Free Agents
It's now time for NFL teams to start signing players whose phones never rang on draft day and hope to find a hidden gem at a discounted rate. The Times-Pic claims that Payton is going to sign ten players during this period. The Saints currently have nine of those players, as reported by the Times-Pic. Here is the list so far:
Player
Position
College
CB
Danny Gorrer
Texas A&M
G
Cedric Dockery
Texas
WR
Chris Vaughn
Louisville
LB
Jonathan Casillas
Wisconsin
CB
Reggie Jones
Portland State
G/T
Augustus Parrish
Kent State
C
Alex Fletcher
Stanford
QB
Patrick Cowan
UCLA
RB
Herb Donaldson
Western Illinois
Also, last I checked safety Derek Pegues from Mississippi St. has still not signed with anyone. Pegues was a moderately ranked safety that many mock drafts had going in the middle rounds but was never selected in the draft. I know we've got a crapload of players now in the secondary but it might not hurt to give him a look. Or perhaps the fact that every other team passed him up speaks for itself.
Yo Mickey!
Mickey Loomis just loves him some trading. For a guy who said...
"One thing we wanted to do as best we could was to maintain as many of our picks next year as we could."
...Loomis sure didn't do a great job sticking to that plan. The Saints gave up their 2010 fifth round pick in their trade up to acquire punter Thomas Morstead. We also know they were very interested in moving back into the first round to grab "Beanie" Wells which I would have to imagine would have required giving up a 2010 pick or two. None of this shows me any sincere interest in actually holding onto future draft picks.
And by the way, I never weighed in on the whole possible trade for "Beanie" Wells situation so here is my official stance: ridiculous.
"One thing we wanted to do as best we could was to maintain as many of our picks next year as we could."
More-stead
The more I hear about punter Thomas Morstead the more I think I'm beginning to like this pick. CSC reader YESSaints (hat tip) claims he's got some insider information and speaks very highly of Morstead. That seems to be right in line with other talk I've been reading around the internet. I think we all need to wait it out before cursing this move. It might turn out to be genius.
ESPN Grades the Saints
Just watched ESPN's NFL Live as they graded every teams draft by division. The Saints received a C as did Carolina. The Falcons and Bucs were both awarded with a B. No doubt the lack of picks this year plus the drafting of Morstead were major factors in the Saints getting just an average grade. After a current total of 645 votes 61% of Canal Street Chronicles readers would give the Saints a B. I'm with the readers on this one. I don't even know why I watch that show every day.
The Hits Just Keep on Coming
Sunday set a new Canal Street Chronicles record for most hits in a single day. Yesterday we broke that record. We will also set a new record for most hits in a month. Thanks to everyone out there reading.