New Orleans Saints Review

So I guess it’s not a slight on Cleveland to say that linebacker Scott Fujita went from the Penthouse to the Dawg House?  Fujita, the first free agent to sign with New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, has signed a 3 year, $14 million dollar deal with the Cleveland Browns.  Just like that, another one of the “Signature Saints” has gone away.

Fujita came to the Saints after spending a year with Sean Payton in Dallas.  While not considered to be an elite player, he’s just the type of guy every team needs to have.  He’s solid, dependable and a blessing to the locker room.  Once in awhile, he’ll make a big play.  More often, you could just count on him to be where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to do.  Not a human highlight reel, but part of the team’s backbone.

So, his departure from the Saints should mean as much emotionally as it does physically.  The Saints’ front office obviously wanted to keep Fujita, but were unwilling to match the big dollars the Brows threw at him.  Let’s be honest, the Browns are in the middle of a rebuilding effort and have to overpay to lure free agents.

I do believe they overpaid for Fujita, but they’re hoping that he can be the kind of player and leader he was in New Orleans.  The Browns desperately need the steadiness he’ll bring to their defense.  And judging Fujita by what he’s done the past 4 seasons, he can certainly help turn his new team into a winner.

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Charles Grant's star was fading in recent years.

Grant was a 1st round pick from Georgia for the Saints back in 2002.  During his first three seasons with the team, he appeared to be a star in the making with 7, 10 and 10.5 sacks, respectively.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to keep up that pace and his best sack total after those first three years never went higher than 6.

In recent years there were questions about Grant’s work ethic and personal life, as he was implicated in a murder outside of a Georgia night club.

For Saints fans, it seemed that Grant was one of the poster children for underachieving defensive units over the years.  During the latter part of the Jim Haslett and early part of the Sean Payton eras, the team struggled to stop the run and generate a consistent pass rush, both areas where Grant struggled to make an impact.

As the team looks to shape its 2010 roster, the $4.25 million that Grant was due to earn wasn’t on par with his production.  So as of now, it would appear that defensive end will become a priority in free agency and/or the draft.

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The NFL’s uncapped year is going to be a major pain – for the fans.  Thankfully, Mike Triplett the Times-Picayune wrote a helpful article explaining the crazy free agency rules.

The Saints, along with their fellow “final 4″ member Colts, Jets and Vikings cannot sign an unrestricted free agent unless they lose one first.  In which case, any free agent they sign must be at or below the lost free agent’s salary.  So if you lose a guy making $1 million, the guy you sign to replace him on your roster can’t make more than $1 million during the first year of his contract.  Yeah, who are the ad wizards who came up with that one?

So, don’t expect the Saints to make a lot of big splashes in free agency.  They have several restricted free agents that they must deal with and I would expect a lot of their efforts will be focused there.

As for the NFL and the players union, they must find a way to come to some sort of lasting labor agreement.  Personally, I root for the players in this one because they are the ones putting their bodies on the line, and the ones who get cut when they lose a step (I’m looking at you, LaDainian Tomlinson).  NFL contracts are pretty much the least secure of any of the 4 major North American sports.

But, I’m not a labor expert so I’ll digress.  Simply put, there is too much money to be made to risk a work stoppage of any kind.  So, I’m begging and pleading with both sides – get a deal done.  And get us away from this madness of the uncapped year!

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It’s not often our Saints win the Super Bowl, so I know fans are looking for more and more ways to commemorate the occasion.  The folks at Upper Deck are releasing a special box set that is dedicated to the Saints’ Super Bowl XLI victory.  Check out one of the cards below:

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Jonathan Goodwin credits coach Sean Payton with keeping the team focused during the week prior to the Super Bowl.

1. First, I have to ask, how would you describe the atmosphere in the Superdome after you won the NFC Championship?
Electric!! As soon as the kick got over the line of scrimmage the fans in the end zone started to celebrate, so at that point I knew it had to be on track to be good. After that it was a man hug session (haha). We all were so excited! Everything that we said we wanted to accomplish had been done. We still had one goal left, but to get to that point was a great feeling for us also. Four years ago we got to that point and came up short and that was one of the worst feelings you can ever experience as a professional athlete.

2. The week before the Super Bowl seems like it would be full of distractions. How were you guys able to focus on practicing and film study with so much going on around you?
Well coach Payton did a great job of preparing us for the distractions. We took care of all out tickets and things like that during the bye week, so we could focus on just football the week we spent in Miami. Another thing that coach did that was smart was he didn’t give us the whole gameplan until we got to Miami. This was key because we spent the week in Miami learning the game plan instead of just trying to remember it from the bye week.

3. You guys had a little bit of a slow start against the Colts, but from the second quarter on it was all Saints. Was there anything said in the huddle or on the sidelines that helped get you going?
Honestly we played well in the first half we just missed a couple plays. On the first series Drew missed Meach, on the second series we had a drop, and then we had the goal line stand. The whole game we had confidence we just started taking advantage of our opportunities in the second half. We believe we are the only people that can stop our offense.

4. Did you have any idea during halftime that Sean Payton called for the onside kick to begin the second half? I’ve heard that Thomas Morstead was terrified when he was told, but did the rest of the team know what was going to happen?
Coach told us all week he was going to call it. He just didn’t know when he would. At half time he told us we would start the half with the ball because he was calling the ambush.

5. During the game, when did it sink in that you guys were actually going to win and become champions?
When we took the 24-17 lead Jon Stinchcomb said to me that we were just over three minutes from winning the Super Bowl. A few plays later Tracy got the interception and then I asked Stinch to tell me that again. So I would say at that point.

6. When the game ended, was there anyone or anything that you thought of right away?
Just my wife, I was trying to see if she was making her way down to the field. It was the greatest feeling you can ever experience as an athlete so I wanted to share it with my family.

7. Looking back on the season as a whole, one thing that struck me was how many things have to go just right for a team to win the Super Bowl. Have you had a chance to sit back and reflect on what it took to win it all?
You are right. Just think if we don’t come back in the Dolphins game or the Carolina game at home then we don’t have home field advantage. That alone could have made it tougher to get to Miami.

8. Personally, you had a great season, earning a trip to the Pro Bowl for the first time. Would you attribute your success to a different approach to the game or is it more about gaining experience and being out there every Sunday?
I had a dream season to go to your first Pro Bowl and win the Super Bowl in the same season is a dream come true. I prepared the same way as I have always done. I think more people just noticed me and some of the other guys more this year.

9. You guys sure seemed to have a great time at the big parade in NOLA. What was it like to be in the middle of that scene?
It was great! It was an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. The city of New Orleans made us all feel like kings. The fans love us and we love our fans back.

10. Finally, do you have plans to do anything exciting during the offseason?
No just relax and take some vacations.

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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