Jinkies - Saints sign former Vikings G/C Nick Easton

[Dome]

16 hours ago, Raves said:

I mean, I thought about the idea of trading MT before his big contract extension that's coming up and I think he could easily fetch somewhere around the Odell trade.  Granted that would mean the Saints know Brees is retiring and would want to focus on a more run heavy offense and a stronger defense, so moving MT would be made with the intention of bolstering the defense.

I could also see him asking the moon where the saints have no choice but to trade him or tag/trade him. When Brees is gone he's gonna want to be the highest paid guy on offense.

[Canadian Saint]

20 hours ago, Dome said:

I could also see him asking the moon where the saints have no choice but to trade him or tag/trade him. When Brees is gone he's gonna want to be the highest paid guy on offense.

I could also see us trading him if/when Brees retires and we want to hit the reset button. I love MT, but if we need to tear it down then paying a WR top dollar with holes on the roster doesn't make sense (a la OBJ and the Giants).

[Dome]

On 3/28/2019 at 3:01 AM, Canadian Saint said:

I could also see us trading him if/when Brees retires and we want to hit the reset button. I love MT, but if we need to tear it down then paying a WR top dollar with holes on the roster doesn't make sense (a la OBJ and the Giants).

Now if our team looks real solid next year like any halfway decent QB could let us compete into the next few years I see is paying him 

[tyler735]

On 3/26/2019 at 3:53 PM, Raves said:

I mean, I thought about the idea of trading MT before his big contract extension that's coming up and I think he could easily fetch somewhere around the Odell trade.  Granted that would mean the Saints know Brees is retiring and would want to focus on a more run heavy offense and a stronger defense, so moving MT would be made with the intention of bolstering the defense.

I can't get behind this logic. Thomas is a borderline top 5 WR, and has continued to improve each season with us. He likely is just entering his prime now at age 26. Say we pull in a 1st round pick for Thomas, what does that get us? We are talking about an elite young proven commodity vs. a roll of the dice in a draft pick. Sure we have done great the past few years in the draft, but the draft is far from a guarantee (Stephone Anthony wasn't that long ago lol), I get that he is going to ask for a big payday, but at the end of the day, so what? Elite players deserve to get paid.

It seems that the organization has done a good job prepping us for life after Brees in regards to the quality of the roster. We likely won't be Super Bowl favorites by any means, but as it stands if Brees plays 1 more season, Teddy Bridgewater seems to be a capable replacement. That doesn't mean I think Bridgewater will be on the same level as Brees (few are), but I do think Bridgewater could be a top 10/top 15 starting QB in this offense. He will be coming into a situation where he has a very good OL, an Elite WR in Michael Thomas, an Elite RB in Kamara, and a quality TE in Cook. All this to go along with a very young defense that appears to be on the rise the past couple years. 

While the "high" number Thomas likely will get for his big payday may seem alarming at first, it is my understanding that the cap is to rise again, and we won't be paying that hefty Brees contract anymore. I'm also guessing it won't be much different than what other top WR's are commanding. Thomas hasn't been a head case, and to my knowledge has been good in the locker room. There just doesn't seem to be any reason to part from him and roll the dice on draft capital, which almost guarantee's we get a worse quality player in the draft as top 5 WR's aren't easy to come by.    

[Dome]

2 minutes ago, tyler735 said:

Say we pull in a 1st round pick for Thomas, what does that get us? We are talking about an elite young proven commodity vs. a roll of the dice in a draft pick. Sure we have done great the past few years in the draft, but the draft is far from a guarantee (Stephone Anthony wasn't that long ago lol), I get that he is going to ask for a big payday, but at the end of the day, so what?

I don’t think anyone is suggesting we trade MT for a 1st

it would need to be a 1st plus something (or multiple somethings) substantial for them to even consider it.

Like raves said, similar to the Odell trade. They got a 1st, 3rd and a starting caliber safety on a rookie deal with big time upside.

[tyler735]

8 minutes ago, Dome said:

I don’t think anyone is suggesting we trade MT for a 1st

it would need to be a 1st plus something (or multiple somethings) substantial for them to even consider it.

Like raves said, similar to the Odell trade. They got a 1st, 3rd and a starting caliber safety on a rookie deal with big time upside.

I suppose I probably should have elaborated a bit more on that. I'm not fond of the Odell trade from the Giants perspective. I think the Browns just got away with highway robbery. Often times it seems draft picks are valued too greatly based on what they could be rather than what they will likely be. Sure the picks could turn out for them, but the stats likely aren't in their favor to recoup the quality of an Elite WR just entering his prime. It is my understanding Peppers has been an under-performer thus far in his career, and maybe he turns it around with a change of scenery. That said, if my memory serves me correct many were down on his pro potential leading into the draft as he was a great athlete that made flashy plays in college, but wasn't really a great football player. The situations as far the players may be a bit different as Beckham has been known to be a headcase while Thomas hasn't. I don't know to what point he has been a distraction for the Giants, but Thomas seems to be the complete opposite in that regard. The distraction element the Beckham brings and what happens behind the scenes is the only way I could see that as a smart move by the Giants.   

Now I get that this isn't taking the trade the Browns offered, but rather one that is comparable. If it is one that is comparable, I am still not on board. If it is one that surpasses what the Browns offered (doubtful in my eyes a team would offer that much) I'd consider it. At this point, I think Thomas is just way too valuable to our offense, and would be huge for whoever we have at QB after Brees as a security blanket for them.

[Raves]

6 hours ago, tyler735 said:

I can't get behind this logic. Thomas is a borderline top 5 WR, and has continued to improve each season with us. He likely is just entering his prime now at age 26. Say we pull in a 1st round pick for Thomas, what does that get us? We are talking about an elite young proven commodity vs. a roll of the dice in a draft pick. Sure we have done great the past few years in the draft, but the draft is far from a guarantee (Stephone Anthony wasn't that long ago lol), I get that he is going to ask for a big payday, but at the end of the day, so what? Elite players deserve to get paid.

It seems that the organization has done a good job prepping us for life after Brees in regards to the quality of the roster. We likely won't be Super Bowl favorites by any means, but as it stands if Brees plays 1 more season, Teddy Bridgewater seems to be a capable replacement. That doesn't mean I think Bridgewater will be on the same level as Brees (few are), but I do think Bridgewater could be a top 10/top 15 starting QB in this offense. He will be coming into a situation where he has a very good OL, an Elite WR in Michael Thomas, an Elite RB in Kamara, and a quality TE in Cook. All this to go along with a very young defense that appears to be on the rise the past couple years. 

While the "high" number Thomas likely will get for his big payday may seem alarming at first, it is my understanding that the cap is to rise again, and we won't be paying that hefty Brees contract anymore. I'm also guessing it won't be much different than what other top WR's are commanding. Thomas hasn't been a head case, and to my knowledge has been good in the locker room. There just doesn't seem to be any reason to part from him and roll the dice on draft capital, which almost guarantee's we get a worse quality player in the draft as top 5 WR's aren't easy to come by.    

Once again thought about it.  I also thought about trading Jimmy G the season before he actually got traded, and I thought about trading Brees before these last 2 years as the team was wasting his talents so 2 1sts or something similar would've started a rebuild.  You can think of these trades and value and see how htey might play out.

[Dome]

7 hours ago, tyler735 said:

I suppose I probably should have elaborated a bit more on that. I'm not fond of the Odell trade from the Giants perspective. I think the Browns just got away with highway robbery. Often times it seems draft picks are valued too greatly based on what they could be rather than what they will likely be. Sure the picks could turn out for them, but the stats likely aren't in their favor to recoup the quality of an Elite WR just entering his prime. It is my understanding Peppers has been an under-performer thus far in his career, and maybe he turns it around with a change of scenery. That said, if my memory serves me correct many were down on his pro potential leading into the draft as he was a great athlete that made flashy plays in college, but wasn't really a great football player. The situations as far the players may be a bit different as Beckham has been known to be a headcase while Thomas hasn't. I don't know to what point he has been a distraction for the Giants, but Thomas seems to be the complete opposite in that regard. The distraction element the Beckham brings and what happens behind the scenes is the only way I could see that as a smart move by the Giants.   

Now I get that this isn't taking the trade the Browns offered, but rather one that is comparable. If it is one that is comparable, I am still not on board. If it is one that surpasses what the Browns offered (doubtful in my eyes a team would offer that much) I'd consider it. At this point, I think Thomas is just way too valuable to our offense, and would be huge for whoever we have at QB after Brees as a security blanket for them.

This is all fair. Though Peppers played much better this year (they brought him down and played him as a box safety more often) from what I’ve been told.

In his rookie year there were a lot of complaints that Gregg Williams was playing him 30 yards off the ball where he couldn’t make plays (sound familiar? Lol) 

His ball skills and playmaking ability can’t be denied, his effectiveness as an every down player can definitely be debated though. 

 

That said, I’m not pounding the table that we trade Thomas. Not at all.... Rather, just floating the idea. 

But I also don’t know that Thomas is going to be as effective without Brees running the RPO... so many of Thomas’ receptions came on quick slants when the o-line was run blocking. Part of what makes Thomas so effective is Brees ability to see an easy slant and take it. If Brees’ eventual replacement isn’t able to see those plays and make the pass and instead hands it off, Thomas might not be as valuable to us as he is now.

Edited April 9, 2019 by Dome