Saints Sign Curtis Lofton
March 25th, 2012
It’s official. Joe hates Curtis Lofton.
Per the Saints beat writers at the Times-Picayune, Lofton signed a five-year deal with New Orleans yesterday. Contract terms were not reported.
Joe’s not sure how any free agent with other options would sign with New Orleans right now, unless he’s a guy that’s all about the money. Why dive into that historic mess of a franchise? Perhaps Lofton is smitten with some bayou honey?
Yeah, Joe’s sour and this is not a we-didn’t-need him rant. The Bucs need a middle linebacker.
March 25th, 2012 at 7:40 am
That stinks. I hope we do bring in a lb with some solid results starting.
March 25th, 2012 at 7:44 am
This is a collasal fail by Mark Dominik. Not only do we need linebackers but to allow him to go to another division rival is a disaster. I was ready to give praise to Mark but his inability to land a solid FA linebacker puts him back on the hot seat. His ability to sign three good FA’s early was a result of the Glazers giving him the go ahead but now the fact the Eagles traded a 4th for a good linebacker and now Lofton slipping thru his fingers shows incompetence.
March 25th, 2012 at 7:45 am
He does know that they aren’t paying bounties anymore, doesn’t he? Maybe he thought New Orleans would offer “supplemental” income.
March 25th, 2012 at 7:56 am
I just wanted the guy out of the division.
March 25th, 2012 at 7:58 am
Why are you guys so locked into a run stopping Linebacker who is weak in pass coverage, Isn’t that what Foster is? I have not watched one Bucs game against the Atlanta and said “man that Lofton guy is dominating.” Beside you heard Dominik say that this draft is deep with linebackers. That usually means that our GM is drafting at least 2 of them.
March 25th, 2012 at 7:59 am
Down from the ledge buc fans.somethings up at onebuc and we will soon see.a couple of ideas 1. Maybe like the eagles we are working on a trade for a vet lb(Lance Briggs for example who wants out of chi town)2. Maybe Hawthorne grades out better as a 3down,3position hitter with cover skills and now we go in for the scoop.3.with Foster on board and rock stars man crush and $$$to black you know he is getting another chance that leaves only really 1starting opening .Maybe a guy like Kueckly or Hightower grade out equal to or better then a Lofton/Hawthorne and come much cheaper or we just pick up a David in the 2nd or a Spence in the 3rd.Weneed help but it should not be panic time I think ole Dom has a plan.
March 25th, 2012 at 8:00 am
TB needs many LB’s. Starters, backups…More than one or two players. I’m surprised they are not at least upgrading the back-up talent.
I hope the GM’s pride will not hurt the team again like with his Black resigning. Black is a backup, at best. Just like Mike Clayton. Losing caddy for Lumpkin. Losing Ruud, and having a rookie call plays.
Instead of just getting the round cube to go in the round hole, he often likes to force the square through, since it’s the square he chose. Kyle Moore?
March 25th, 2012 at 8:00 am
I’m glad we didn’t sign Lofton. We would gotten an uninspired player whose first interest was not the Bucs, but one who only wanted to get paid. I think when the Bucs saw this their interest cooled.
The Saints are also playing a dangerous game with their salary cap. They were at 1.28mil under the cap Friday am 3/23 after signing Broderick Bunkley. Since then they have signed LBs Chris Chamberlain and Curtis Lofton to long-term contracts. They are going to have to do a lot of cutting and/or restructuring to get underneath the cap again. Desperate times – desperate moves!
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcsouth/post/_/id/32824/nfc-south-in-big-salary-cap-trouble
March 25th, 2012 at 8:29 am
How is this Doms fault? All he can do is make an offer.I don’t want him here anyway! If it takes that long for him to make up his mind to play for a classless team like NO or to play in TB, then he made the right choice! Next time we see him # 27 will leave cleat marks on his back! Enjoy last place Mr Lofton!
March 25th, 2012 at 8:34 am
It must be about a money grab or he’s not that smart. Everyone but him sees the Saints are a sinking ship.
March 25th, 2012 at 8:45 am
Succinct, well put Joe.
Dom failed on 3 fronts, as I see it. First, proclaimed that his mission is to sign Free Agents away from division foes, so he nickel and dimes Lofton from Falcons to Saints–fail. Second, continues to walk around with agenda like Bucs know better about their current LB corps, that the pundits and loyal fans do not, with last year’s lack of production inclluded. Third, obviously he doesn’t want to draw too much attention to the Quincy Black situation/signing from last year, that was a gross overpayment (somewhat maybe to pull up total salary cap usage).
The biggest teams and front office’s in the league operate in the consensus, year after year, with common knowledge of critics and fans in agreement on talent on the roster, or the lack thereof, but Dom feels they think they know better, on several LB’s on our roster???!!! Like we ALL missed that, somehow. And the pundits, critics?? Bucs solutions at LB, ARE NOT found in this year’s draft class, no matter what they try to sell you. Drafted LB’s this year, if in 2nd or 3rd round, are merely for filling depth chart.
Clearly, a defiance here. Dom and front office, are defiant to make public and multiple changes (before FA crop is depleted) at Linebacker…defiant.
March 25th, 2012 at 8:57 am
Nice job “rock star.” couldnt convince Gerald’s best friend to come play behind him over a place with no HC, GM, QB (at this point) or lost the player trying to save pennies again.
As shelton correctly pointed out this morning, Schiano will “restore order” in the locker room but the team still “needs to repair the defense.” I agree completely.
Lofton would have been a solid step in that direction.
Yes the defense was led by the worst defensive coach ever to grace a nfl sideline last year. That is why the defense was dead last in points allowed, yards allowed, more runs of 20+, gave up 5 yards per carry and were dead last in sacks. You need to do more than just restore order to get a unit this terrible to be average.
Hopefully you fans have learned that the draft is hardly a quick or guaranteed solution. I remember you neophytes arguing with me last year about how the drafts had made our D Line a dominant pass rushing group – and then we finished dead last in sacks. Dead last.
Nobody views are D Line as even average yet. So give up your fanatical idea that our many holes at DT (yes DT) and back 7 will all be filled through the 2012 draft.
March 25th, 2012 at 8:57 am
Ruuuuud?
March 25th, 2012 at 9:00 am
Well i guess we should get L.Fletcher. He’ll be cheaper and I think better besides being older, but we need some leaders on Defense. 2 year contract would be good. I mean besides his age can anyone complain on his performance. Still think we should draft Luke Kuechly. M.Claiborne woubl be good, but I don’t think he’ll be there at #5.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Barrett would be our best linebacker. Still think Foster is more physical in the hole?
Go watch the video of 5’6 180lb Rodgers running him flat over in the hole against the Falcons. Rodgers makes Warrick Dunn look like Brandon Jacobs.
Ruud would be an upgrade. I remember arguments by some after 2010 that Ruud was THE problem with our run D. Really? How did you like our 2011 run d without him?
March 25th, 2012 at 9:16 am
I’d take Ruud back in a heartbeat. It was a mistake letting him walk last year.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:18 am
I think Rennie Curren is the reason this staff isn’t freaking out and rushing into another lb.wait n see.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:21 am
Giving Dom a ‘fail’ for not signing Lofton is BS.
They are making every effort to put together talent and spend money. If Lofton didn’t want to sign here and choose the Saints…the SAINTS whom will look like a HS team after Goodell hands down player punishment…then I don’t want him because his decision making is weak.
Some of you guys just want to b!tch for the sake of b!tching.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:28 am
“It’s official. Joe hates Curtis Lofton.”
Me too.
I would’ve been happy with Lofton, but I think if we were to get a FA for MLB Hawthorne makes more sense. I have been saying all along that this offseason isn’t going to completely fix this team. Maybe they don’t get a LB in FA and chose to look to the draft and next year. After this offseason I will not say Rock Star has failed in any way shape or form. I think with the deliberate coaching search by the Glazers and Rock Star, and the meticulous assistants search by Schiano, that these guys have a vision for the future of this team. I’m on board and won’t do too much complaining (unless the vision fails) about how the offseason has gone.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:36 am
Ruud only signed for one year w/Tenn, has he been resigned yet? If he’s still out there, Dom should get him!
March 25th, 2012 at 9:38 am
@the Buc realist – How can you call Mason Foster a run-stuffing linebacker? Did you watch the Bucs last season. Sheeesh
March 25th, 2012 at 9:46 am
@vince
That is basically Foster will be in years 2 and 3, Or are you just going to base Foster’s whole career on last year. If you take the scouting report, rookie stats of both guys, watch a little tape to notice that both weakness is defending the pass. very similar. if we can get a more productive d-line we should see a similar jump in numbers for foster, as Lofton had.
But if you want to drool over a one dimensional linebacker that we basically already have, go ahead I guess.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:46 am
This is a colossal fail by the Bucs fans that wanted Lofton. HE STINKS! He was terrible. He was one of the biggest reasons the Falcons were 4th worst in the league last season in getting off the field on 3rd downs. He is absolutely dreadful against the pass and that is why the Falcons didn’t even bother to offer him a contract. Did anybody else notice that the Falcons cared less of him leaving?
The Falcons were worst than even the Bucs last season on 3rd down percentage at 44%. Lofton was a huge reason for that as he never came off the field despite needing to.
I couldn’t be happier that Lofton signed with the Saints. The Saints are weakened by taking on Lofton and his total inability to cover the pass (his INT agaisnt us last season was Winslow’s fault and thrown right to him as he was just standing there in typical fashion) and the Falcons will be weakened as they have nobody to replace him nor do they have the draft resources to do so. Both teams are weakened by the move and the Bucs have the opportunity to draft the next great MLB in Luke Kuechly. Kuechly was far more productive in college than Foster, far more athletic, and much tougher. His instincts are off the chart.
During Foster’s senior year, Foster finished second in the NCAA in tackles… well behind Kuechly who was a sophomore… AND Kuechly’s BC defense was #1 in the nation against the run.
Great defenses aren’t led by great CBs, they are led by MLBs. Urlacher, Lewis, Willis are leaders of great defenses. Champ Bailey, Nnamdi and others have done little to ever make their defenses any better than average.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:47 am
What exactly did Ruud do last year? Oh yeah; he was beat out by a rookie! You guys kill me! Get a couple more young guys who know how to hit instead of avoid contact and this D will improve dramatically. Foster will be a good LB given the right coaching & system. He did make some very solid hits and his play was not all bad considering the situation he was thrown into. Also; keep in mind this is no longer a cover 2 or some crazy hybrid so Ruuds coverage skills may not even come into play.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:50 am
“Brad Says:
March 25th, 2012 at 7:44 am
This is a collasal fail by Mark Dominik.”
. –
NOT!
You people amaze me how you get what you want (spending) and still complain when more doesn’t come in.
I don’t care that the Saints got Lofton. The Bucs will slam into his face during the season and that will be that.
Stop you freaking belly-aching and wait to see what we head into training camp with! This is like the kids complaining they did get something at the stare before they even leave the store and finish shopping.
And Thomas…you are a d!ck. Nothing will ever please you…and you’ll always be quick to jump on any negative bit of news. Scum thru and thru.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:56 am
Brandon,
Exactly! Over paid and drastically over rated. We need more leaders on this team and Lofton is just leading himself to the highest bidder. Honestly; I’m more concerned over the issues we have at Safety which no one talks about. A good Safety (or two) can come into the box and knock a RB’s A$$ in the dirt. This is the difference between a stop at the line and a 20 yard gain.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:57 am
So…what is the scoop on the rest of the linebackers still avaialble (Fletcher, Hawthorne, etc.)?
March 25th, 2012 at 10:00 am
The colossal failure would be to go into next season without upgrades to our linebacking corp. Without question.
However, Lofton was NOT the be all and end all. We don’t have to fix every hole with long term solutions NOW. There are other LBs on the market, who can be short-term upgrades while allowing us to develop projects. For example, if Mason Foster is, in the eyes of the coaches, the long-term answer at MLB, we can do what we did with Quarles: sign a London Fletcher or similar type of MLB, push Foster to Will for a season or two, then once the stop-gap is done (in the case of Fletcher) or his contract’s up (if we got for another option), then we can slide Foster back into the middle.
Lofton would have been a long-term answer. There’s no real long-term answers out there any more. So what? We’ve fixed 4/5ths of the O-line for the next 5-7+ years, we’ve helped our entire receiving corp with the addition of Jackson, and we’ve got a long-term potential #2 CB in Wright. When teams try to fix EVERYTHING for the long term in one offseason is when you become a Redskins, or a Dream Team Iggles, or a Raiders. We’ve done a lot already for the future of the team, and we’ll do even more for its future if we get our long-term #1 CB in Mo Claiborne. For the linebackers, we don’t NEED an answer for the long-term – just an answer for 2012.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:01 am
Joe- again, exactly right. It’s why I keep coming here!
Brandon- No, No, no
Foster sucked and was totally lost , hit like a feather pillow
Bucs LBers have been called by some analyst as possibly worst unit in the history of the NFL!
That’s pretty bad.
Usually a great poster- but you go in the penalty on this one! Lol
Penalty – gotta watch last 10 games- focusing on LBers!
Brrrr- horrible!
With on the love for Kuechley- guy will dominate
But- if Lofton had signed, walked to the center of the field, a shoved his thumb up his bum.
Then did nothing but run around in circles every play- he would still have been 5 times better than our three losers- including Foster
Missing out on LBers is yet more failure on Dom.
Between the Clayton, Ward, and Black contracts, and the horrifically bad players in our back 7- dominick has gotta be on thin ice!
March 25th, 2012 at 10:03 am
@bucfanjeff……Buc fan huh?
It’s funny, all of them included, how the critics of the critics on here, never aim for a solution themselves, no sense about them to logically, intelligently refute the naysayers on here, with solutions….being part of the solution, instead of just part of the small, noisy, anklebiting crowd?!?
As fans, anyone on here has their Buc-following fan right to critique how things are going in the offseason (hopefully with suggestions included), as any fans do in any town in the offseason, because of KNOWN missing ingredients through all of last season. That’s why every sports website this time of year builds an “Offseason Needs” column or blog for fans to read, chat.
But the small, noisy fools, who have no solutions, but just noise to clamor at fans that COMPARTMENTALIZE the offseason spending, and still have the sense to request continuing needs be addressed. Simply put, the other Nicks/Jackson/Wright spending is welcomed, but doesn’t address the LB situation at all, one of the largest and most critical needs in the offseason, a NEED that is not achieved for a STARTER in the Draft.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:08 am
Same thing is going to happen this year as it did last year. Dom is going to over estimate the LB’s talent that we have and were going to strugle mightily. That has been the same story with Dom since ’09, he puts his pride in the way too much.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:08 am
Not sure how people didn’t see this coming. The Saints weren’t 4-12 last year. They have Drew Brees. They’re still a good team. Why would he want to come here?
March 25th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Yes! In today’s passing league (NFL) a 2 down linebacker is a tremendous liability, teams will pass the rock on any play (1st -4th down).
Rudd is not the answer. His play was terrible bottom line. He could not win a starting position in Tennesee over a rookie. He got benched. He’s currently in free agency and is generating no interest
London Fletcher is the move to make
March 25th, 2012 at 10:15 am
I am PO’D royal. We need a line backer. Present stock stinks like $£!t. Loftin might not be the right fit for us but a hell of a lot better than what we have now. Dom time to show that you haven’t £¥€{<d us up on this one.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:19 am
Exactly how can we keep thinking that any GM can throw $ at any player and they will fold tent and move? I laugh at this. Do we not remember the Haynesworth issue we offered more $ and “he” chose to go someplace else.
I hope we bring in London Fletcher for 2 years to work with our LB by providing something that even #55 never did, being a leader on the field and off the field with his play and presence in the community. And getting in the players face letting them know that he will not let them play at a lower standard than he himself carries him self on the field and off. Yes Brooks was a leader by example on and off the field, but we do not “only” need this type of leadership we NEED someone to raise the roof at the half if we are not playing to our abilities. I can say Fletcher will bring that type of alpha attitude to our team.
Wow now its bring Ruud back… really? How many JBF alumni where riding the guy out of Tampa across the Corntey Campbell Causway… and he did what for the titans last season?
March 25th, 2012 at 10:20 am
At this point, Fletcher might be the answer. The positive would be that he would be a tremendous on-field coach for the other LB’s and well, the dude is still hitting and tackling with the best of them. The negative is of course he is ancient in football years. We can’t rely on the draft to fill all of our defensive holes especially with the uncertainty of Claiborne being there for us. Not getting a decent LB particularly an ILB is paramount. Dominik has to see the need for this. I don’t buy the fact that the Saints are the better team yada yada yada. Lofton chose the Saints because of money and Dominik messed that one up by not paying up. This was not a situation to leverage. The fact is we needed Lofton desperately and we didn’t get the job done. Still pumped over those early big moves but hello, we have several holes. Let’s not put all of our stock into the draft. We could be on a 2-3 year plan or a 5 year plan. Lets make it 2-3.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:21 am
Getting a decent LB….
March 25th, 2012 at 10:25 am
I read from a random message board poster last week that after Lofton visited the Saints his agent called the Bucs and we basically shut the door on it and then reports a few days later came out that we cooled on Lofton.
Bucs keep Foster at Mike for 1 more season and draft Manti Teo next year. Watch!
March 25th, 2012 at 10:31 am
We are not hurting at safety as much as some say Assante and Holland should see increased time this year and i think Assante is due for a breakout season.We have the pieces people they just need to be used right and coached up !!
March 25th, 2012 at 10:44 am
@ Northend
“I think Rennie Curren is the reason this staff isn’t freaking out and rushing into another lb.wait n see.”
I totally agree with this Rennie Curran will be a player for the bucs.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:58 am
Capt.Tim,
Either I wasn’t clear enough or you read wrong. I’m NOT high on Foster. I thought he was terrible over the last 10 games of the season. He was serviceable during the first 6, but not good enough to know anything more than an upgrade is needed. I am no Mason Softer fan (misspelling intended) and wholly believe that if the Bucs were to trade down in round 1 to the 8-12 range (and pick up some solid round 2 or 3 ammunitiion) and pick Kuechly, that having a stud/leader/stonewall/athlete like him in the middle would give this defense an identity and make them formidable iinstantly. I am not a Foster fan, and yes, I saw the last 10 games which is one of the huge reasons I want Kuechly to be a stud with us rather than another team.
March 25th, 2012 at 11:03 am
HOnestly, if the Bucs were to draft Kuechly the Bucs would be in great shape at LB. Considering NFL teams play close to 50% of all snaps in Nickel, we have Kuechly in the middle and have Foster/Watson/Black/Hayward/Curran/other draft pick battle over the Will spot and the next best guy plays at the Sam. The little bit that Watson played last season, he proved to be a playmaker and difference maker, he just wasn’t on the field enough. I’d like to see him win the Will spot and have Foster/Black/Hayward fight over the Sam.
These bum LBs we have MIGHT be quite a bit better with better coaching. None of them are lacking in physical attributes, all of them seem to be lacking in instincts and mental readiness. Coaching can help this moreso than a lack of ability. There is hope… but it starts with drafting THE stud in the middle.
March 25th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Don’t worry Brandon, Capt.Tim just puts words in your mouth in arguments and dosent back up his oppinions with FACTS.
March 25th, 2012 at 11:20 am
I would say that anybody that doesn’t think 95%(or higher) of the players in the NFL are all about the money are pretty naive. They only have 1 or if they’re lucky 2 chances to break the bank on the open market. Why would anybody take less? It isn’t like the Saints will all of a sudden suck now either so I’m not sure why that would deter Lofton to begin with.
March 25th, 2012 at 11:40 am
F U lofton. Now I can go back to hating you like I did when he was with the falcons but now i hate him even more. Hope blount trucks him this year.
March 25th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Just a note of caution! For all the fans who would like to get Luke Keuchly. Remember, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. To get Keuchly means no Claiborne or Richardson. You have to either assume he/they were gone before pick #5 or you passed them up to trade down. I assume that you’re not taking Kuechly at #5 with both of them sitting there. Bottom line, you can’t have both!
March 25th, 2012 at 1:11 pm
I hate Lofton he made a huge mistake.I would like to see ruuuuuuuuuud come back he always led the team in tackels and with foster now and a new coach it would benifit them both.Freeman will torch lofton all day like the packers always do in the playoffs agaist the falcons.Bucs to the super bowl 2012 champs.
March 25th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Brandon- k sorry. Didn’t read like that.
Clayburn.- ya still spelled it wrong. Agreed with yer post. you, oddly , we right about something! Contrats! That’s a friggin first!
As usual, ya fell apart after that. At least you don’t get embarrassed about. As its such a frequent occurrence.
Keep trying, at reading all my post- you may improve.
I doubt it, but ya gotta have hope- right?
And to futher inform the masses
Barrett Ruud has already resigned with the Titans.
You know, the Titans- they cut Tullock to sign Barrett.
Ruud will be back with them
Ya know what that means?
It means they will have a MLB- and we still don’t!
And for the record- I was raising hell at the people trashing Ruud. Last spring- I said that if we cut Ruud, we’d have a losing season!
Coming off the 10-6 season, a great many posters here called me horrible things.
As always, I was right!
Still nobody man enought to admit they were wrong.
Which I have also done in the past
March 25th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
They desperately need to address the lb position. I have seen Curran play quite a few times, he’s a very good player but wouldn’t hang my hat on him to be a very good starter.
I will wait and see what they do after the draft, they can still sign some solid vets at the league minimum I would think to add depth and compete.
They can’t fix a team in 1 off-season.
March 25th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Ruud is a FA, he hasn’t resigned with the Titans. He lost his job during the year to Colin McCarthy(a rookie) who will be their starting MLB going forward.
March 25th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
About a month ago, the Bucs were the team that “no player would go to unless it was for the money”. Yet we got 3 players and paid big salaries. If they’re here because of the money, they got it and could very easily coast through their guaranteed portion of the contracts and we’ll be no better than before. Let’s hope that’s not the case, but it’s happened before (Fat Albert in Washington for example). It’s too bad we didn’t get Lofton, but with our other signings there was only so much to offer for a MLB. We can’t cut Black to make room as his contract is guaranteed through this year.
If we can get one decent LB this off-season, be it through the draft or FA, I think we’ll be ok. As bad as Black is, I think they can see what Watson and Hayward have to offer if he (Black) falters again. We can be “ok” at the position without being great. Improve the DBs (Claiborne) and have a healthy DL and mediocre LB play can sometimes slide. Also, with a better OL, our running game should improve (especially if they have better playcalling and I doubt it can be any worse than last year). A better run game means more time of possession and less time on the field for the D. Give Free some protection and maybe he can find the open guy or throw a jump ball to VJax or MW to convert third downs without being intercepted, again keeping our D off the field and protecting a mediocre at best LB group.
Can’t get everything done in one year. We’re still gonna have some holes to fill next year. Just goes to show the team wasn’t “filled with talented players” last year. Combine that with the coaching staff and you get a 10 game slide. I think some players are better than they appeared last year (Watson, I think, has potential) while others were exposed as quitters. Let’s get some new coaches in here to start teaching these guys and weed out the bad ones and give the rest a crash course in NFL football. We should see improvement this year, maybe back to 2010 form or even better.
March 25th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
How can one hate on a rookie MLB (QB of the defense) who was an OLB in college with a straight face? Face it the coaching staff was terrible at developing players, the d-line is loaded with talent yet they constantly under achieved. The blame goes to the previous coaching staff or lack thereof, I am dying to see what these guy’s can do in a real defense with coaches that know how to coach. Same goes for the offense as well.
March 25th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
@BamBamBuc
I Like Dekoda Watson a lot myself, I think he has the potential to be a very solid starter with the right coaching.
March 25th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Cmon Lion, every Hall of Fame season is decided by your rookie season.
March 25th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Plus many who post on here don’t have the mental capacity to Google something. Kinda like people saying Barrett Ruud resigned with the Titans.
March 25th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Hahahaha
March 25th, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Alright- I was mislead. Inside sport reported on their App that Ruud resigned weds.
I checked the Titans site, and “WalterFootball” . Neither show Ruud resigned.
I stand corrected
March 25th, 2012 at 4:08 pm
Curtis im glad you went the saints.. Now we can draft zach brown in the 2nd round! And I can watch Carl nicks or Blount run you over!
March 25th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
Seriously those tryinng to start a Ruud movement back to Tampa please stop. Statistically yes he made a lot of tackles, but put on the tape. My man sucked at the line of scrimmage. Plays for loss? Nah Ruud looked great tackling 7,,9,15 yards downfield. Nobody has talked about Ruud in Free Agnecy for good reason, he is not that good. Middle of the pack at best. We need a beast that makes tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage, not a stat master. If we had better D-Line play then Ruud’s tackles would have been cut in half!
Mason will be fine, but we need to revamp the lb core and the secondary, Wright is a decent start, but it may take 2 years.
March 25th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
I really don’t see how everyone expects every hole to be plugged THIS YEAR. There either are not enough good pre-29 players in FA, or we only have limited picks in the draft.
The weakest link on this team last year was cornerback on both sides. Teams ran on us, yes, but they destroyed our cornerbacks. As I see it, we still need to fix one side in that position. Wright is Talibs replacement at #2…Mo will be the #1.
Then we take a LB in round 2, a RB in round three and bpa in rounds 5-7
Black is here another year, like it or not. Schiano can take a year to feel out the remaining LBs.
It’s going to take two off seasons to fix the mess we have here on defense. Offense is another story.
March 26th, 2012 at 12:07 am
We need to sign somebody to play LB for us… if we go into training camp with the same 2 or 3 lbs from last year i’m going to be very dissapointed with our front office
March 26th, 2012 at 4:28 am
I’m happy we didn’t sign Lofton that guy is a one trick pony, he is the Saint’s problem now. Lofton is a liability more than he is an asset. I’m glad we’re not stuck with him for the next 5 years, I would have minded him here for a year or 2. But we can find someone far better for the same price or less in the next year or 2. People need to know get their panties in a bunch because we didn’t sign him. We didn’t sign him for a reason, and a damned good one @ that.