New Orleans Saints Review

It’s wonderful to see that #23, Pierre Thomas, will be back with the Saints for at least one more year after signing his tender with the team.  The restricted free agent running back is still hoping to work out a long-term deal with the team before the season begins.  Receiver Lance Moore and safety Roman Harper are also expected to sign their tender deals this week as well.

Thomas is handling his contract situation the right way, at least by the Saints organization and the fans.  Instead of refusing to show up for training camp, etc., Thomas will now be a part of the team’s quest to repeat as Super Bowl champs.  All the while, he can work out a long-term contract that will be fair for both sides.

Now, there is that tough question of just how much Pierre Thomas should be paid for his services.  I’m certainly glad that it’s not up to me to decide such things!  Thomas wants to be paid like a top back, and the Saints seem more interested in something a bit less.  The fact that Thomas didn’t play hardball and hold out tells me that he feels that the two sides will make a proper compromise.

Thomas certainly performed quite well for the Saints and has improved every year.  The problem he faces is that, other than Drew Brees, there aren’t a lot of superstar players on this offense.  It really is a team effort and the Saints do not rely on just one running back, receiver or tight end.

It’s very conceivable that, given the chance, Pierre Thomas could be one of the top backs in the NFL.  But playing in an offense which spreads the ball around so evenly means that Thomas won’t likely get the chance to put up the superstar-type numbers that we see from, say, Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans.

So it’s really a matter of balancing a player’s production while also taking his role on the team into account as well.  Hopefully, Pierre Thomas and the Saints can find a happy medium.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 9:16 am and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.