New Orleans SAINTS official thread 2015-16

[treeduck]

Saints sign Kyle Wilson

 

Posted by Josh Alper on April 1, 2015, 1:28 PM EDT

 

In 2010, the Saints took cornerback Patrick Robinson with the 32nd pick in the first round of the draft.

 

Robinson landed in San Diego as a free agent this offseason and part of the team’s plan to replace him on the roster involves another first rounder from that class. The Saints announced Wednesday that they have signed cornerback Kyle Wilson, who went 29th to the Jets that year.

 

Wilson played in every game over five seasons in Jersey, but never made good on that lofty draft position with the Jets. Wilson played almost exclusively in the slot for the Jets and his performance was found lacking enough that his snaps diminished over the last two years even with the Jets desperate for help at cornerback.

 

With Brandon Browner and Keenan Lewis on the team in New Orleans, a sub package role will be Wilson’s path to playing time in New Orleans as well. How much of a role he winds up playing will likely be determined by any further additions New Orleans makes at the position as the offseason rolls along.

I've watched quite a bit of this guy. You'd better hope he doesn't get any playing time...he's horrible.

I think we've just signed a few camp bodies the last few days just in case of an emergency or if we end up unexpectedly not drafting certain positions.

They might be better off bringing Jason David back... :outtahere:

[treeduck]

Saints are well positioned to make a splash early in the draft

 

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 4, 2015, 9:13 AM EDT

 

The bad news facing the Saints this year is that they’ve been forced to focus for most of the offseason on getting their salary cap under control. The good news for the Saints is that they have the best stockpile of picks early in the draft of any team in the NFL.

 

The Saints are the only team with five picks in the first three rounds of the draft: They have their own picks as well as the Seahawks’ first-round pick from trading Jimmy Graham and the Dolphins’ third-round pick from trading Kenny Stills. Those are picks No. 13, 31, 44, 75 and 78. No other team has five picks in the Top 100.

 

That means the Saints can acquire some good players at low prices. And that’s exactly what the Saints need. Although New Orleans has made plenty of moves to get its salary cap situation under control, the Saints still have less than $5 million in available cap space this year, and are likely to be in rough cap shape next year as well.

 

It’s an odd thing to say about a team with Drew Brees at quarterback, but the Saints are a rebuilding team. Fortunately, they have the picks they need to rebuild.

Edited April 4, 2015 by treeduck

[treeduck]

Sean Payton is the NFL’s most aggressive coach on fourth down

 

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 4, 2015, 12:17 PM EDT

Saints coach Sean Payton goes for it on fourth down far more often than any of his colleagues around the NFL.

 

In fact, in 2014, Payton went for it on fourth down more than twice as often as an average NFL coach would have, when faced with the same circumstances. FootballOutsiders.com analyzed every fourth-down decision in the NFL in 2014, adjusting for the distance needed for a first down as well as where the team was on the field and the score of the game (filtering out times when a coach goes for it because his team is getting blown out), and found that Payton had an Aggressiveness Index of 2.01.

 

Many statistical analysts say that NFL coaches should be more aggressive about going for it on fourth down, but Payton says he relies less on statistical analysis than on gut feeling. Payton explained during the 2014 season that when the Saints face a fourth down, he usually just makes his decision based on whether he has a feeling that the Saints’ offense can call a play that will work in that situation.

 

“Fourth downs maybe is sometimes a feel, and a lot of times it is not having a play,” Payton said. “There are some times where you have got a play you cannot wait to run, so you would be more apt to be aggressive.”

 

Whatever the reasons, Payton feels like going for it more often than other coaches. Analyzing fourth-down data going back to 1989, Football Outsiders found that there have only been eight seasons when a coach was more than twice as aggressive as his peers — and two of those seasons were Payton-coached Saints teams. In addition to the Saints’ Aggressiveness Index of 2.01 last year, the Saints had an Aggressiveness Index of 2.22 in 2007.

 

Unfortunately for Payton, those also happened to be his only two seasons with a losing record. Payton isn’t afraid to go for it when his team needs it, but he’d be better off if his team didn’t need it.

Edited April 4, 2015 by treeduck

[laughedatbytime]

Sean Payton is the NFL’s most aggressive coach on fourth down

 

Posted by Michael David Smith on April 4, 2015, 12:17 PM EDT

Saints coach Sean Payton goes for it on fourth down far more often than any of his colleagues around the NFL.

 

In fact, in 2014, Payton went for it on fourth down more than twice as often as an average NFL coach would have, when faced with the same circumstances. FootballOutsiders.com analyzed every fourth-down decision in the NFL in 2014, adjusting for the distance needed for a first down as well as where the team was on the field and the score of the game (filtering out times when a coach goes for it because his team is getting blown out), and found that Payton had an Aggressiveness Index of 2.01.

 

Many statistical analysts say that NFL coaches should be more aggressive about going for it on fourth down, but Payton says he relies less on statistical analysis than on gut feeling. Payton explained during the 2014 season that when the Saints face a fourth down, he usually just makes his decision based on whether he has a feeling that the Saints’ offense can call a play that will work in that situation.

 

“Fourth downs maybe is sometimes a feel, and a lot of times it is not having a play,” Payton said. “There are some times where you have got a play you cannot wait to run, so you would be more apt to be aggressive.”

 

Whatever the reasons, Payton feels like going for it more often than other coaches. Analyzing fourth-down data going back to 1989, Football Outsiders found that there have only been eight seasons when a coach was more than twice as aggressive as his peers — and two of those seasons were Payton-coached Saints teams. In addition to the Saints’ Aggressiveness Index of 2.01 last year, the Saints had an Aggressiveness Index of 2.22 in 2007.

 

Unfortunately for Payton, those also happened to be his only two seasons with a losing record. Payton isn’t afraid to go for it when his team needs it, but he’d be better off if his team didn’t need it.

I love having an aggressive coach in these situations. Way too many coaches are hyper conservative and it hurts their team. And it doesn't help that Aikman and Simms are punt first to the extreme and parrot conventional wisdom on the national broadcast like it's never even worth considering trying to convert.

[treeduck]

New Jahri Evans deal creates $4 million in cap space

 

Posted by Mike Florio on April 4, 2015, 5:07 PM EDT

 

The Saints wanted to re-do Pro Bowl guard Jahri Evans’s deal. Re-do it they did.

 

Via Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate, the new contract reduces the player’s cap number from $11 million in 2015 to $7 million.

 

Evans received a $5.4 million signing bonus, and he’ll get a guaranteed base salary of $1 million in 2015. Another $500,000 comes from a roster bonus and $100,000 from a workout bonus. That gets him to $7 million in total compensation this year, $500,000 less than he was due to earn.

 

Per Underhill, Evans also has a $3.8 million base salary in 2016, $2 million of which is fully guaranteed. Evans also has a $1 million roster bonus due on the 15th day of the league year. His cap number for 2016 has dropped from $10.2 million to $8.2 million.

 

In 2017, Evans is due to receive a base salary of $4.9 million, a $100,000 workout bonus, and a $1 million roster bonus due on the 15th day of the league year.

 

Meanwhile, the Saints have given no consideration to adjusting the contract of quarterback Drew Brees, which carries a cap charge of $26.4 million in 2015.

Edited April 4, 2015 by treeduck

[treeduck]

Brandin Cooks looks up to many, particularly Antonio Brown

 

Posted by Darin Gantt on April 6, 2015, 2:40 PM EDT

Brandin Cooks might be small of stature, but he’s one of the big pieces the Saints are building around for the future.

 

And when it comes to roll models, he knows who he looks up to.

 

During an interview with gritmedia.co. (via the New Orleans Times-Picayune), the 5-foot-10 Cooks said he struck up a friendship with Brown at a shoe company function, and continued to ask him questions throughout the year.

 

“Throughout the season I would just text him, you know, ask him questions,” Cooks said. “How’d you get your [footwork] so good? How do you get in and out of your breaks so well? How do you separate from defenders so well?”

 

“I’m trying to get better. I want to learn from the best, and those who are doing it at such a high level, pick their brain and see what they do differently from everyone else.”

 

Brown led the league last year in catches (129) and receiving yards (1,689), giving Cooks a solid role model. But the raw material is there, as the Saints rookie had 53 catches for 550 yards in 10 games, before a thumb injury ended his season.

 

Cooks said the Steelers wideout “always showed excitement when he texts back or when we talk. He gives a lot of feedback. He doesn’t send back one-word answers or a short message. If I got a question, he goes into depth and answers those questions for me.”

 

And in the absence of immediate options for the Saints, Cooks could make a Brown-sized impact if he can stay well.

[treeduck]

Saints sign Anthony Spencer

 

Posted by Josh Alper on April 10, 2015, 1:18 PM EDT

 

 

The Saints hosted defensive end/linebacker Anthony Spencer on a visit a couple of weeks ago, but there was no immediate agreement on a deal for Spencer to join the club for the 2015 season.

 

The sides kept talking, though, and the Saints announced Friday that they have signed Spencer to a one-year deal.

 

Spencer will be reunited with Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan in New Orleans. Spencer turned in two good years during the two seasons Ryan ran the defense in Dallas. In 2011 and 2012, Spencer played in 30 games and recorded 17 sacks and six forced fumbles and earned the franchise tag from the Cowboys before both the 2012 and 2013 seasons as a result.

 

Spencer wound up playing just one game in 2013 before having microfracture surgery on his knee, however, and he wasn’t nearly as effective in 13 appearances for the Cowboys last season. The Saints are obviously hoping that the return to Ryan’s scheme and more time away from the surgery will lead to better results in 2015,

[treeduck]

Randy Gregory’s latest visit will be with the Saints

 

Posted by Darin Gantt on April 13, 2015, 11:08 AM EDT

 

Randy Gregory bought himself more than scrutiny when he failed a drug test at the Scouting Combine.

 

He also earned more frequent flier miles.

 

According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports, Gregory’s latest tour stop will be New Orleans this week, as the Saints join the list of teams who want to meet him in person and see what makes him tick.

 

The Saints own the 13th and 31st overall selections, though it’s hard to imagine the one they got from the Seahawks being in play here. Then again, before the drug test, the 13th probably wouldn’t have gotten them a whiff of Gregory, either.

 

The Nebraska pass-rusher has top-10 talent, but is visiting with teams all over the draft board, because no one knows how much damage he did to his stock.

 

Among his reported visits so far are the Jaguars (third overall pick), Chargers (17th), Panthers (25th) and Ravens (26th). With another two weeks and change, more are likely.

 

The Saints could clearly use someone with his ability to get to the quarterback, and may take the chance at keeping him eligible.

[treeduck]

Greg Jennings to visit Saints after his trip to Jacksonville

 

Posted by Darin Gantt on April 14, 2015, 3:43 PM EDT

 

Former Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings is taking his time, and looking for a good situation.

 

And he’s looking to a place that has been looking for a few more receiving targets.

 

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Jennings is planning to visit the Saints after his trip to Jacksonville wraps up.

 

Jennings has also checked in with the Panthers and Dolphins during a deliberate courtship, giving him plenty of time to send out funny tweets in between.

 

That’s also quite a variety of teams and roles, as the Panthers would be looking for a clear No. 2 receiver to help take pressure off Kelvin Benjamin, and the Dolphins are looking for a veteran presence, while the Jags are looking for a little bit of everything.

 

The Saints are going to have to do business a little differently in the passing game this year without Jimmy Graham, but Jennings would be a solid add to a good group.

[treeduck]

Saints bring defensive end Corey Wootton in for a visit

 

Posted by Darin Gantt on April 15, 2015, 11:57 AM EDT

The Saints continue to try to add to a defense which sorely needs it, and have brought in a pass-rush prospect.

 

Via Katherine Terrell of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Saints are hosting free agent defensive end Corey Wootton today.

 

He was with the Vikings last year, where he posted 1.0 sack, after recording 11.0 in his first four years with the Bears. His best year was 2012, when he had 7.0 sacks while starting seven games, but he hasn’t repeated that since.

 

The former fourth-round pick has shown some flashes at times, and can play inside. But the Saints need to find any kind of pressure they can, in an effort to fix a defense that got old and bad all at once.

[treeduck]

Sean Payton: We need to draft defenders who play right away

 

Posted by Josh Alper on April 16, 2015, 6:38 AM EDT

 

The Saints own a pair of first-round picks after trading tight end Jimmy Graham to the Seahawks and they have five picks overall in the first three rounds, which puts them in position to add some talent to the roster after a 7-9 season.

 

During an interview with WWL on Wednesday, coach Sean Payton gave some hints about what kind of talent the team was hoping to acquire. It probably comes as no surprise to anyone who watched the Saints in 2014 that Payton thinks the team needs immediate help on the defensive side of the ball.

 

“It’s going to be important for us defensively in this draft to bring in some guys that we feel like can help us play right away,” Payton said, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “And I think if you’re looking closely to when we’ve been real good, there’s been that element defensively, there’s been that element in the running game.”

 

The Saints made some moves to bolster that running game by acquiring center Max Unger in the Graham trade and signing C.J. Spiller, although Payton said that he wouldn’t call it a philosophical change in what the team is doing offensively. It doesn’t appear the defensive philosophy is undergoing a significant change either, which means that they’ll need better players and better execution if they want better results in 2015.

[treeduck]

With draft board set, Saints coach Sean Payton, his staff now tackling next crucial part of preparation

 

http://imgick.nola.com/home/nola-media/width960/img/tpphotos/photo/2015/04/22/-4dbe0e55d7756ddf.JPG

 

There’s pressure.

 

There’s always pressure.

 

It doesn’t really make a difference to Sean Payton that the New Orleans Saints are coming off a 7-9 season and are the midst of reworking their roster. He approaches the draft the same way he always has.

 

Added urgency? Maybe to observers, but that feeling isn’t shared inside the Saints’ building. There’s always urgency and pressure and a desire to hit on every pick. It was the same in 2006 as it is in 2015.

 

“I think every year you feel the urgency to have a good draft, and you recognize the importance of it,” Payton said Wednesday before teeing off at the Zurich Classic Pro-Am. “Certainly when you have more selections, you have a chance to impact your team.”

 

But to observers, that urgency is heightened. New Orleans isn’t simply entering the draft and looking to add a few faces. This team has pushed a good portion of its chips to the middle of the table by trading away tight end Jimmy Graham, wide receiver Kenny Stills and guard Ben Grubbs in various deals that brought back draft picks.

 

The Saints enter the draft with nine selections, including five within the first three rounds. There’s an opportunity to transform the roster, and both Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis have said there will be a heavy emphasis on improving a defense that too often disappointed last season.

 

The process of locating those players is already well down the line. The Saints have finished setting their draft board. The team is now going back through each positional group and trying to project how each player will fit within the system. Some of those projections can cause adjustments to be made.

 

Payton and the Saints staff ran through various scenarios that could occur, which in some cases likely involve the Saints packaging assets to move around the board. Those meetings have been taking place daily and wrapping up around 10:30 each night.

 

“So we’ll kind of do that up until the middle of next week, but it is an important draft and obviously significant in that there’s just a lot of flexibility with the amount of selections,” Payton said.

 

One thing Payton said was somewhat revealing about how the team sets its board is that the team does not discriminate or separate players at various positions based on size or type. One position where this could come into play is at wide receiver.

 

Bigger receivers, or ones who are projected to play outside, are ranked within the same position group alongside smaller players who are projected to maybe play the slot or flanker. For instance, someone like Brandin Cooks and Marques Colston would be ranked within the same group if they were entering the draft today.

 

“We try to grade the player, we try to envision the position he plays,” Payton said. “You would see various heights and weights and that would carry over to other position groups. There’s certain prototypes you look for, yet you pay close attention to production.”

 

Another thing the Saints are trying to navigate is how to look at players with character concerns. Pass rusher Randy Gregory, cornerback Marcus Peters and wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham are among the most talented players at their positions this year, but all three are expected to drop because of various character issues.

 

The Saints have hosted both Gregory and Peters for official pre-draft visits, and Payton explained Wednesday that some of those issues are difficult to sort through.

 

“I think that you really got to make sure that there’s division of this character,” Payton said. “There’s like 50 shades of it. You gotta look and pay close attention to how you see the player. Every little bit of information you’re factoring in. Of course production and how they play on film, it starts there, but it’s important.”

 

There are also 50 shades to this draft. Now the Saints need to find the nine right ones to pull out of it.

Edited April 23, 2015 by treeduck

[laughedatbytime]

McShay has Devin Smith going to the Aints at 31. Gregory with the first pick in rd 1 for NO.

[treeduck]

McShay has Devin Smith going to the Aints at 31. Gregory with the first pick in rd 1 for NO.

I don't like either of those picks, I think we could get Smith in round 3, and if we can't I don't want him for the Saints, unless it's even later. Gregory would be ok at #31 but not at #13.

[Disembodied Spirit]

Randy Gregory will be a problem.

Please do not bring him to New Orleans.

Nebraska players always underachieve

[treeduck]

Randy Gregory will be a problem.

Please do not bring him to New Orleans.

Nebraska players always underachieve

Are you a Saints fan mate?

[Disembodied Spirit]

Randy Gregory will be a problem.

Please do not bring him to New Orleans.

Nebraska players always underachieve

Are you a Saints fan mate?

Indeed. About 5 hours East.

[treeduck]

Randy Gregory will be a problem.

Please do not bring him to New Orleans.

Nebraska players always underachieve

Are you a Saints fan mate?

Indeed. About 5 hours East.

Cool! There's not many Saints fans on here they're all Packers freaks or Tom Brady fan boys, or Seahawks bandwagoners and there's even one Ron Jeremy supporter!

[Disembodied Spirit]

As long as Jameis Winston does not end on the Saints.

That dude is straight up Cancer.

I do however hope the Saints take a QB in the 2nd or 3rd round, always be prepared for Brees ending.

[JohnRogers]

and there's even one Ron Jeremy supporter!

http://cover32.com/49ers/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2015/01/ronjeremy.jpg

The 49ers are in for a long season.

Edited April 24, 2015 by JohnRogers

[Disembodied Spirit]

and there's even one Ron Jeremy supporter!

http://cover32.com/49ers/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2015/01/ronjeremy.jpg

The 49ers are in for a long season.

Historically teams that lose as many players as the 49ers did, AND a coaching staff.....

5-11 AT BEST

[Disembodied Spirit]

Saints should get 2 defenders with both 1st round picks.

13,31

 

At #44 take Devin Smith WR if he's there, OR best WR on board.

At #75 Take a QB, maybe Petty, Hundley...Insurance pick

[Disembodied Spirit]

Rumors are Saints are looking to trade up to 2 or 3, to select Leonard Williams

[treeduck]

[treeduck]

Rumors are Saints are looking to trade up to 2 or 3, to select Leonard Williams

What would it cost to do that?? Too much I bet.