This has been the most critical off-season period for the New Orleans Saints in the recent reign of head coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis. This will also be the most important and franchise-shaping draft for the Saints since Payton joined the franchise in 2006.
Let me put it more bluntly. The time running up to the April 30 NFL draft and the round of free agent signings that follow will make or break the Saints for the next three to four seasons.
In this day and age of the NFL, I don’t buy into “rebuilding.” There’s not enough patience among ownership and fans to take two or three years, much less a season, to rebuild a roster from top to bottom or inside out.
The NFL is a win-now league if you have the money to spend and know how to spend it. A case in point are the Seattle Seahawks, with billionaire owner Paul Allen’s checkbook. They became a dominant force with two consecutive trips to the Super Bowl over the course of two drafts and three seasons.
Once you build it for the long-haul, then what follows are tune-ups and overhauls.
The Saints were pressed against the salary cap, which in hindsight involved some lousy financial and contract management moves. That led to the culling of some big-dollar commitments to free up funds to sign draft picks and free agents, all while staying within league salary cap limitations.
The head scratcher was dealing All Pro mega-star tight end/wide receiver Jimmy Graham to those same Seahawks for a first-round pick and former All Pro center Max Unger.
On the surface, it was a dollar-and-cents move, as Graham was set to be a $10 million hit against the Saints’ cap this year. On the football side of the ledger, it was a very curious and risky decision.
We all know the impact the 28-year-old Graham had on the Saints’ offense over his five years in New Orleans. The former third round draft pick got his multi-million-dollar, long-term contract before the start of last season because he led the team in receptions, yardage, touchdowns and endzone dunks.
Graham was the yin to Drew Brees’ yang. He was the Alpha Prince while Brees was King Alpha. If Brees was Rex, then Graham was Bacchus.
If the Saints were inside an opponent’s 10-yard line more times than not, Payton was calling for No. 88 as option No. 1.
That’s a lot of offense to send to your top NFC rival and the team the Saints will probably have to go through if they intend to contend for another appearance in the Super Bowl.
Payton and Loomis didn’t get stupid overnight. They can recite Graham’s stats and production in their sleep (85 catches, 889 total yards, 10.5 yards per catch and 10 touchdowns in 2014, if you were wondering). So I’m figuring they know something or have picked up a trend regarding Graham that we aren’t privy to.
Could it be teams have caught up to Graham and know how to stop him at the line of scrimmage by being more physical? Could it be the shoulder, elbow and ankle injuries have taken some toll on Graham and he didn’t play as hard and wasn’t as effective dinged up late in the season?
Or was it a quick and surefire $10 million dollar savings in return for a much needed talent like Unger, who will anchor the offensive line at the critical center position — plus a second first round draft pick to boot?
I tend to think it was a combination of the two. But for the life of me, I can’t understand why Payton and Loomis left Brees out of the loop. The future Hall of Fame quarterback who so depended on Graham learned of the trade when the rest of us did.
Are you telling me no one in the Saints’ front office thought it was a good idea to call Brees in and run it by him? Look, Brees would have said what you and I did: “Are you crazy? Deal Graham to Seattle?”
Payton and Loomis would have gone through with the trade anyway. But let the face of your franchise know ahead of time, will you?
The popular belief is Payton wants to pound the ball more and emphasize the running game. That’s why the Saints re-signed running back Mark Ingram to a new four-year extension at $16 million. That’s why they let veteran Pierre Thomas go — he had under 300 yards rushing after another tough year of battling injuries and missing games — and signed speedster running back C.J. Spiller from Buffalo.
I’m not drinking that Kool Aid either.
Payton has been at the forefront as the NFL has morphed into a pass-happy league. Sure, teams still have to run the ball — think Marshawn Lynch in Seattle and ex-Cowboy DeMarco Murray in Dallas — but let’s not kid ourselves; you win NFL games with a top caliber quarterback and the passing game.
The New England Patriots don’t win the Super Bowl without Tom Brady’s 50 to 55 passes a game and 350 yards to go with his three or four touchdowns.
Payton is locked in on keeping Brees as the centerpiece of his offense. He’s playing a shell game by retooling his offensive weapons. Marques Coltson has to bounce back from a season with too many dropped balls. Second-year receiver Brandin Cooks must stay healthy and have a break-out year. Nick Toon must now cross the middle with confidence, and Ingram needs a 1,200-yard rushing season.
This is as good a time as any to officially say those trade rumors involving Brees were a crock from the start. Brees out of New Orleans made about as much sense as Aaron Rogers leaving Green Bay or Brady out of Boston.
The Crescent City revolving door did see some recognizable names leave the building — linebacker and top tackler Curtis Lofton, young receiver Kenny Stills, former all pro guard Ben Grubbs, cornerback Patrick Robinson, safety Corey White and, of course, Graham and Thomas.
That door was swinging the other way as well, as the Saints signed big cornerback Brandon Browner, fresh off his Super Bowl with the Patriots. Miami linebacker Dannell Ellerbe agreed to terms, along with Spiller and Unger.
The upcoming draft is where Loomis and Payton must roll the dice and target some talent that will make an instant impact on the roster for 2015. They have nine draft picks over the seven rounds — two in the first round, a second-rounder, two No. 3 and two in the fifth round, along with a sixth and seventh round selection.
The first pick comes up at No. 13. I think it will be used for a linebacker or cornerback. The 31st pick in the first round (which came with the Graham trade) should be used for another pass rushing defensive end or for offensive line depth.
More help is needed at safety, defensive tackle, wide receiver and, yes, tight end. Those two picks in the third round might just put this draft over the top if the Saints dial in on some top talent still on the board.
There’s going to be a lot of veteran talent available in July once camps open and roster cuts come fast and furious; so the Saints will need to budget some spare coins just in case.
It’s still a bit too early to start shopping for a successor to Brees. He’s 36 and still very healthy. Were there kinks in his All Pro armor last season? No doubt. At times, his passes lacked the zip and velocity of years past. There were still too many interceptions at critical times coupled with some really dumb decisions.
But there were also another 4,000-plus yards of passing and 20-plus touchdowns. Brees is still a Top 5 elite quarterback and the leader of this team.
Once you get past the quarterback trio of Jameus Winston, Marcus Mariota and Garrett Grayson, the pool of talent coming out is pretty shallow.
I say sit tight at quarterback and use those late round picks to bolster a defense that sank to 31st overall.
I’m hoping Payton has an offensive formula tucked away on his iPad that will somehow replace Graham’s 386 career receptions, 4,752 total yards and 51 touchdowns over his 78 games as a New Orleans Saint.
Like I said, it’s a risky move to send Graham packing, but it was the hand the Saints dealt themselves.
The due diligence, analysis, long hours and hard work are ongoing as the Saints prepare to roll the draft dice beginning April 30 in Chicago. It’s a weekend that will show us whether Payton and Loomis have the right cards up their sleeves.
Get Rick Sarro’s perspectives on sports on Soundoff 60, which airs Monday through Sunday nights at 9 pm on Suddenlink Channel 60 and Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10 am as well.
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