If You Want Him, Go and Get Him

A couple weeks ago, rumors surfaced that the New Orleans Saints were in hot pursuit of Jeremy Shockey. Yesterday, we reported talks of a possible trade involving Jeremy Shockey and the Saints have re-emerged. After reading all the comments under yesterday's post, it’s clear to us that Saints fans familiar with the situation are wondering just what the Saints would have to give up to land Shockey. Before we get into that, lets break down what we already know.

Approximately two weeks ago, rumors surfaced that the Saints were offering the Giants their starting strong safety, Roman Harper, and a 2nd round pick in this years draft. It was later learned that it was actually the Giants who were asking for Harper and a 2nd. This simply will not happen for a couple reasons. First off, Roman Harper is a Sean Payton guy. Payton drafted Harper, among other reasons, because he was a leader on the top defense in the country (Alabama) in the toughest conference (SEC) in the country. Week in and week out, Harper was playing against the very best competition that college football had to offer. Secondly, Payton would never give up his starting strong safety and a 2nd round pick for Shockey. If Payton were to make this trade, he would have one fewer starter on a struggling defense and one fewer pick in the 2nd round to upgrade that defense. The Saints simply cannot afford to take that big a loss on what is already one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Not to mention, Harper has been one of the few consistent players on the Saints’ horrendous defense. Whether you like Harper or not, he’s considerably better than the rest of our secondary, barring Mike McKenzie. Obviously, Payton and Mickey Loomis got this one right by not executing that trade. This is not to say the Saints don’t have a glaring hole at the tight end position though, and recent defensive pickups may allow the Saints to use one of their first day picks on offense.

Over the past five to seven years, it’s safe to say that our tight ends have been less than stellar. Cam Cleeland and Mark Campbell should have never even stepped foot on the field. Eric Johnson, who was brought in last year to upgrade our tight end position, failed to impress with only 2 touchdowns and 292 receiving yards, not to mention costly, game-changing drops and tipped balls, some of which resulted in interceptions. Billy Miller is pretty much the only tight end on our team who contributed anything worthwhile, and he is at best a backup or a situational player. This glaring deficiency at the tight end position has enabled teams to focus more attention on Marques Colston and Reggie Bush and has stifled our offensive production in the process.

Installing Shockey, a top five tight end in the NFL, would instantly boost our offensive production. Sean Payton, of all people, should know the importance of a good pass catching tight end with potential to create mismatches and draw coverage away from other players; after all, Payton coached both Shockey with the Giants and Jason Witten with the Cowboys. It’s indisputable that this move would give our offense an instant kick in the ass on the field, but will his on-field production compensate for his off-field antics? We believe so.

While Shockey has been an off-field and locker room distraction in the past, Payton is a no-nonsense coach that simply will not put up with Shockey’s immaturity. Tom Coughlin, on the other hand, seemed to be rather lenient at times when Shockey was disruptive. On top of that, Brees is a born leader, while Eli Manning appears to still be learning his role in the leadership department. Brees has not been afraid to call out big name players before, even criticizing Reggie Bush when he felt that he needed to study more tape and learn to be a better running back. Rest assured, Shockey will find it much more difficult to be disruptive to a team here in New Orleans.

Acquiring Shockey may be a different story. The Saints should, and from all indications will, give up a 2nd round pick in order to acquire him. You may think that pick is way too valuable to the Saints, especially since this year’s draft is so deep. While the pick may be valuable, there’s no guarantee that pick would ever turn into a valuable starter especially at the tight end position, should the Saints go that route. Shockey, on the other hand is a proven commodity that would come in and immediately give Brees another viable offensive threat. The risk with Shockey is low, and the reward could be very high in a position of glaring need for the Saints.

For the Giants, they have already proven that they can win without Shockey, as they won the Superbowl this year after Shockey went down in week 15 with a broken fibula. Perhaps the Giants wouldn’t have won the Superbowl had Shockey been around. Although that question can never be answered, I assure you that it’s crossed Tom Coughlin’s mind. Another issue for Coughlin to ponder is the fact that Eli seemed to have better chemistry with Kevin Boss, Shockey’s replacement, who came up big for the Giants throughout the playoffs. The Saints have already offered a 2nd for Shockey and been turned down, but it does not appear that any other teams have approached the Giants with more lucrative offers. It may be time for the Giants to drop the charade of pretending they really want Shockey back next year and take a high 2nd round pick for him.

All in all, Shockey would be a huge addition to the Saints. While his off-the-field problems can be a distraction, his on-the-field production certainly covers up his problems. You may hear about Shockey hanging out on Bourbon Street, but when Sunday rolls around, you’ll know that’s he’s all business. In any event, he should continue to be one of the most productive tight ends in the league. If the Saints do acquire him and head back to the NFC Championship game this winter, you’re going to look back and understand why the Saints simply couldn’t pass up such an opportunity.