Who Dat News: Saints Sign Safety to Three-Year Deal

News: Tuff Harris, a defensive back and punt returner who played with the Miami Dolphins last season, has agreed to a three-year contract with the New Orleans Saints, according to the BillingsGazette.com. The Saints signed Harris to provide depth at safety behind starters Josh Bullocks and Roman Harper.

WhoDatSay: Last year, Harris signed with Miami as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Montana and was elevated from the practice squad to the 53-man roster halfway through the 2007 season. Harris' agent, Ken Staninger, recently commented that Harris would be given the opportunity to compete for the Saints' punt return job. While we doubt that Harris will open the season as the Saints' punt returner, the fact that the team has even communicated that to Harris makes us believe that Reggie Bush will not be performing the Saints' special team duties. While we wish Reggie would see more significant time taking punts, we're glad that the Saints see the need to get someone back there other than Lance Moore, who was underwhelming at best last season. It looks like Tracy Porter and now Tuff Harris should push to replace Moore, with Porter looking good at winning the spot.

So Shanle It Is

When off-season acquisition Dan Morgan unexpectedly retired a few days ago, a mini-panic resonated among Saints fans. Questions and inevitable concern abounded: What do we do now? Who will we start at weak-side linebacker? Are we going to go after somebody? If so, who? Two names, in particular, have been thrown around: Cincinnati’s recently released Odell Thurman, and former Philadelphia linebacker Takeo Spikes. Now that Morgan is out of the picture, however, the most likely, and frankly the best scenario for the Saints is that Thurman and Spikes remain right where they are -- on the street -- and that Saints linebacker Scott Shanle remains right where he is -- at starting weak-side linebacker.

Scott Shanle burst onto the scene in his first season here in New Orleans and went from being an essential backup in Dallas to the Saints leading tackler in 2006. In fact, Shanle, along with the likes of Scott Fujita and Hollis Thomas, was one of the names often cited by Saints fans as one of the genius acquisitions made by the Payton regime after its arrival in New Orleans. The signing of Morgan this past off-season, however, indicated that Payton and Loomis were concerned with his drop in production in 2007. At the very least, they wanted to bring in a body to compete with him for the starting spot. But by bringing in Morgan, a player with a significant history of injuries, the Saints also indicated that they were comfortable with the realistic prospect of Shanle again manning the Will spot in 2008. Payton and Loomis had to know that the Morgan signing could have easily ended exactly the way it did -- with Morgan never playing a down for the Saints. Therefore, Payton and Loomis must still have some confidence in Shanle. And for good reason…

Shanle figures to have a much better season in 2008 than he did last year. In 2006, when the club got much better defensive line play, and at the very least more consistent secondary play, Shanle turned in a solid year on the weak-side, registering 97 tackles (73 solo) and 4 sacks. This year's defense, at least on paper, figures to be much closer to the 2006 version than to the 2007 one. The defensive line will be improved, Jonathan Vilma will make everyone around him better, and the law of averages says our secondary has to improve; it certainly couldn’t get much worse. That's good news for Shanle, who is now a virtual lock as the starter on September 7th against Tampa Bay.

And as for the other two names being mentioned, they are both moves that would make no sense for the Saints right now. Neither Odell Thurman nor Takeo Spikes would be an upgrade to this club, and at least one would be a tremendous risk. In the case of Thurman, he was just kicked off the Bengals -- the Bengals -- for lack of discipline and an unwillingness to participate in team activities. Consider what Cincinnati safety Dexter Jackson had to say about Thurman: "To see a young guy with so much potential and so much talent, and let it go to waste … his mindset just wasn't in the [right] place. I wish him the best in whatever he does, but he had the opportunity to be here and be one of the best, but he didn't capitalize on his opportunities." That just doesn't sound like a Sean Payton football player. Payton is a Bill Parcells disciple; the last thing he is going to do is bring in a bad egg to a team that he feels has a shot to make a deep playoff run. Couple that with the fact that Thurman has been out of football for two years, and there's no reason to take a risk on him. Whereas the Morgan risk had a minimal downside (we are seeing it now), the Thurman risk has a huge downside, and one that Sean Payton is probably not willing to take.

The other name mentioned, Takeo Spikes, has just had age and a long career catch up with him. He will simply never regain the form he had in the prime of his career when he was making 120+ tackles a year. He had a bad ACL tear in 2005, and is entering his 11th year in the league. Plus, the club learned its lesson in trying out a player on the downside of his career in Brian Simmons last year. It won't make that mistake again. Now that the Morgan experiment is over, Payton and Loomis seem to be comfortable with a Fujita-Vilma-Shanle combination at linebacker. It makes no sense at this point to bring in Spikes, who can't compete with Vilma in the middle and is too slow at this point in his career to man the outside in place of Shanle.

The bottom line is that Shanle is what most other players in the league are -- pretty darn good at what they do assuming everyone else around them is decent at what he does. He will never be a Pro Bowler, and he will never be the guy mentioned as the leader of our defense. Nonetheless, with a good supporting cast (something we figure to be closer to having this year), Shanle is very far from being a liability. When the Saints re-signed him after the 2006 campaign, Mickey Loomis had this to say, "Making sure Scott returned to our team was one of our priorities entering the off-season. He is a player who is an integral part of the group that we want to build around. This is a really positive way to get 2007 started." Based on the moves they have made, Loomis and Payton still believe that about Shanle, and Shanle's production in 2008 should do justice to those comments.

Who Dat Say News: Vilma Practicing

News: The Times Picayune reports that Saints middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma is practicing with the team, and according to onlookers, seems to be making solid progress. According to Coach Sean Payton, "He's participating in half a practice, seven-on-seven drills, and it's been very good." It's been real positive so far."

Who Dat Say: Morgan retires, but Vilma is looking good - although not ideal, a scenario we all would have accepted when we got these guys. While participating in seven-on-seven drills is a far cry from running full-speed laterally across the field to tackle whichever running backs our NFC South rivals decide to trot out this season, it's certainly a sign of progress. If Vilma can come back and be a 100-tackle guy this season, we're a different defense. If Grant can resolve his legal problems, we will have great defensive ends for another year. If Hollis Thomas can lose some weight, and if Ellis is the real deal, our defensive line rotation will be considerably better than last season's version. If Randall Gay fits in with our defense, if Usama Young can contribute, if Mike McKenzie can get healthy... These are the "if's" that will define our 2008-2009 campaign, Saints fans, and at the top of the list of "if's" is Jonathan Vilma. While all we can do at the moment is speculate, it's exciting to know that we really have the opportunity to turn it around on defense, but only if...

Who Dat News: Smith Wants to Retire as a Saint

News: In a recent interview, Will Smith told reporters that contract talks with the Saints are ongoing, according to uticaod.com. Smith indicated that he would like to remain a Saint, but only if the contract is right: “I’d like to stay with the same team my whole career… I love New Orleans. I love the people there … But then again, it’s a business.”

Who Dat Say: If we can spend $63 million on Charles Grant, why can’t we do the same for Will Smith, who was selected as a team captain last year? I expect the Saints to do whatever it takes to keep our pass-rushing defensive end in New Orleans, especially considering the organization’s apparent desire to mimic the Giants’ success last year in establishing a dominant front four. Grant still has 6 years remaining on the monster contract he signed last year, and Sedrick Ellis will probably get a 5-year rookie contract. If we can lock up Smith for another five to seven years, that means these three potential stars on the defensive line will be terrorizing Matt Ryan for the next five years.

Who Dat Say News: Grant Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter

News: According to the AP, New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for his role in a bar fight back in February. The fight took place at a Georgia nightclub and resulted in the death of Korynda Reed and her unborn fetus.

Who Dat Say: Let's not rush to judgment on this one. Another patron of the nightclub, Laquient Macklin, has been charged with felony murder and feticide, which means that Macklin likely fired the shots that killed Reed in the course of the fight. Based upon the charges, it appears Charles Grant is being charged with involuntary manslaughter soley for his participation in the altercation. Five other individuals were hit with the same charges as Grant. So what does this all mean? Roger Goodell is nothing if not a disciplinarian who holds his NFL players to a very high standard of conduct. Whether Grant ever touched the woman who was killed, he was in one way or another, a participant in a fight. Therefore, a suspension could be coming down any day. However, Commissioner Gooddell has yet to step in and issue any punishment, which may mean that he is waiting for the legal system to engage in some fact-finding before he takes action. Goodell has known about the incident for months now. And it's entirely possible that Grant was merely defending himself from an attacker in a fight that ultimately lead to someone's death - an extremely unfortunate position for anyone to be put in, but a position in which NFL players seem to find themselves from time to time. Grant was, after all, stabbed in the neck, and according to the AP, the shots were fired before Grant was stabbed. Until we know what really happened though, it would be reckless of us to speculate any further. We support Charles Grant, and we hope those responsible for the death of a woman and her unborn child are brought to justice at all costs, regardless of who those people may be.

NOLA A Brees For Saints QB

Yesterday, outside of Cafe DuMonde in the French Quarter at 6:30am (an hour and a half prior to the Saints first OTA meeting), Drew Brees sat down with Alexis Glick of Fox Business to speak about several topics. Here is the link to the interview. Gotta love Brees.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=531120&referralPlaylistId=4c29dcd75741dd8d848434d8fc081ad9df23585a

Carolina Bet Update; Necessary Grammar Lesson for Panther Fans

As most of you know, last week WhoDatSay.com challenged the entire Carolina Panther nation to two separate bets for this upcoming season. The first was that the Saints would sweep the series against the Panthers, and the second was that Reggie Bush would have more total yards from scrimmage than DeAngelo Williams. While we are still in negotiations concerning the bet with two Carolina fan sites that shall remain nameless, we did hear back from a Carolina Panther fan named Gengiz. This fan’s passion is not questioned. What concerns us, though, are his various grammatical shortcomings. We at WhoDatSay.com, like the rest of the great city of New Orleans, are good people. We believe in civility, helping others, and the correct use of the English language. Therefore, out of the goodness of our collective heart, we have decided to correct the grammar of this passionate Carolina fan. We also believe this will help Panther nation in general, as some of its previous responses to our posts have indicated a rather lackluster level of education on their part (claiming that there is an overabundance of offensive weaponry in Carolina, for example). We understand that grammar is not easy. That’s why we’re here to help. Below, you will find the original email written by Gengiz. We have included numbers in brackets in the mail. Below the email are the corrections that correspond to the numbers. Let's get started, class.

LOL! [1] Oh pleeease tell me whats the bet? You wont be sweeping the panthers. The super dome is our 2nd home. Havent lost a game their [2] since 2000. We own you there! [3] Oh yeah, and if Deangello Williams [4] a bust then Reggie Bush must be the Ryan Leaf of running backs. Here are their [5] stats from last year.

D.Williams 144 attempts, 717 yards, 5 yards per carry average, 4 Tds
Reggie Bush 157 attempts, 581 yards, 3.7 yards per carry average, 4 Tds

Keep in mind Reggie Bush started most of the season after Duece got hurt where as [6] Williams was backing up Foster. Not to mention Bush was the #2 overall pick in the draft where Williams went 26. OUCH! Let me know your terms as long as they are reasonable! You guys truely [7] are delusional [8]!

[1] LOL is an acronym for the words “Laugh Out Loud.” It is most frequently used by prepubescent teenage girls when commenting about their photos on Myspace or Facebook. It should never be used by a guy.

[2] Here, the correct word would have been “there.” Distinguishing correctly between “there” and “their” is a mistake often made by those new to the language. “Their” is used to indicate possession or belonging, whereas “there” is used to describe a place. Here, because you were talking about the Superdome, a place, “there” would have been the correct choice.

[3] Very good. Here you got it right.

[4] All sentences need a verb, which is a word that denotes the sentence’s action. In this case, “is” would have been acceptable. “Is” would have sufficiently carried the action of the sentence’s subject, “DeAngelo Williams.”

[5] Very good again. Here you were able to distinguish correctly between “there” and “their” for the second time in a row.

[6] “Whereas” would have been the correct word here. This is yet another mistake made by those in the beginning stages of trying to tackle the language. The word “whereas” is a conjunction that dates back to the 14th century. Its origins come from two separate words “where” and “as” (hence your confusion). For the last 700 years, however, both of these words have been written as one. Also, the word “tackle” as used earlier is not to be taken literally -- it is used merely as a figure of speech. Your familiarity with the word “tackle” (a “tackle” by your beloved Panther defenders, for example) is an entirely different thing.

[7] Here the correct spelling of the word is “truly.” We can see why the error was made, though, as one could easily think that the natural progression of the word “true” would be truely. Nonetheless, “truly” is and always has been the accepted spelling. We realize that there are a lot of words to learn, and that not all of them can be spelled correctly.

[8] Very good. You followed up your previous gaffe of “truly” with quite a fine job with this rather lengthy and complicated word.

And so there you have it, Carolina Panther nation. What more could you ask of your division rivals than a nice and necessary grammar lesson? We hope that this proves useful to you, and look forward to its being put into practice in future comments that you make on our site.

As for the bet, details and participating site(s) will be released as soon as they are official.

Who Dat News: Dan Morgan Retires

News: According to a press release from the Saints on Monday afternoon, Dan Morgan has decided to call it a career. "When we signed Dan, he was committed to making a fresh start, and he was making every effort to rehabilitate the leg injury that he suffered last year," Coach Sean Payton said in the team's statement. "But it wasn't responding as well as he had hoped it would. We wish him well in his continued recovery, and he will be remembered for the excellent player he was during his career."

Who Dat Say: Well, so much for that experiment. We at WhoDatSay were tentatively penciling in Morgan as the Saints' starting outside linebacker. While we weren't certain he would replace Scott Shanle due to his history of concussions, we did not think the torn achilles was the injury that would eventually lead to his retirement. It's always bad to lose a player as talented as Morgan, but at least the Saints didn't give anything up for him - Morgan was a free agent. From the Saints' standpoint, he was basically a risk-free investment that just didn't work out. But many questions will arise in the wake of Morgan's retirement. First, will the Saints target any other free agent linebackers that are available? Second, would this have changed the draft strategy for Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis had they known Morgan was set to retire? Third, who is going to start at outside linebacker? In the meantime, I'm sure we will have to grin and bear it from our "friends" in baby blue and black. On the bright side for Morgan, at least he got to go out a winner.

Following the Leaders

The NFL is very much a copycat league – if it works for one team, others are going to try it. There is no better example of this trend than the spread of the “West Coast Offense,” which was implemented by Bill Walsh during his tenure as assistant coach for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1968 – 1975. When Walsh became head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, he installed a modified version of this system, and ended up winning three Super Bowls during that time. Later, several of Walsh's assistants and coordinators went on to successfully implement this system while coaching other teams. George Seifert won two Super Bowls with the 49ers after Walsh retired; Mike Shanahan won two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos; and Mike Holmgren won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers and coached in another with the Seattle Seahawks.

One can already see the signs of the continuance of this trend as teams make off-season moves and attempt to duplicate the New York Giants’ recipe for success. Were the Giants the best overall team last season? Definitely not. Did they have the best overall offense? Not even close. Did they have the best overall defense? It’s debatable. But what they did have without any question was the best front seven. With the recent rule emphasis on Illegal Contact and Pass Interference penalties, passing offenses have been gouging defenses because defensive backs have much less freedom to redirect receivers through physical play. Defensive coordinators have had a difficult time adapting, but the Giants seem to have provided the blueprint from which other copycat teams will build their roster. Instead of loading up a roster with expensive defensive backs like Asante Samuel, DeAngelo Hall, and Nate Clements, some teams appear to be focusing on their front seven in order to enhance their pass rush and control the game from the line. The Saints are currently members of this copycat group.

Throughout the 2007 season, the Giants’ defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, perfected the 4-3 defense and in the end proved that a team doesn’t need an elite secondary in order to win the Super Bowl. Last season, the Giants’ defense racked up a league-leading 61 total sacks and only allowed an average of 97.7 rushing yards per game, which was 8th best in the NFL. All but 10 of their sacks came from their defensive linemen and linebackers. In the Super Bowl, the Giants defense only allowed 45 rushing yards on 16 carries, which amounted to a measly 2.6 rushing yards per carry. Their defense sacked Tom Brady 5 times, forced a fumble, and intercepted a pass. The Giants were able to rack up these numbers because, unlike the Saints, they had a deep defensive line rotation and solid linebacker play, which allowed them to keep their starters fresh. The Giants’ defensive linemen and linebackers were also getting to the quarterback quickly, putting far less of a burden on their cornerbacks and safeties, who despite not being shutdown players, fared well against the accomplished Patriots receivers.

Good NFL teams need depth, and compared to the Super Bowl champion Giants, the 2007 Saints had very little on the defensive side of the ball. As a disciple of Nick Saban, Gary Gibbs would love to pressure the quarterback from all possible angles, but the Saints defense simply lacks the talent. In no one stat is the lack of talent and athleticism of the Saints defense more evident than in the fact that Mark Simoneau and Scott Shanle combined for two sacks all of last season. They’re great for run support, as all linebackers must be, but they can’t blitz the quarterback or cover tight ends and running backs coming out of the backfield; with Simoneau and Shanle on the field, it’s difficult to put much pressure on a quarterback.

All that said, Sean Payton recognized the need to bolster the front seven this past off-season through free agency and the draft. The Saints signed the best middle linebacker available, Jonathan Vilma, who many believe is the third best middle linebacker in the NFL when healthy. Payton also added former 1st round pick, Dan Morgan. While Morgan has been very injury-prone in the past and suffers from frequent concussions, the Saints plan to move him from middle to outside linebacker in the hope that he will take fewer head-on hits. These two additions alone may have been the two biggest steals of the off-season. The biggest positive about acquiring Vilma and Morgan though, is that they are both low-risk, high-reward moves. If neither Vilma nor Morgan pan out, we are only losing a fourth round pick and picking up relatively small contracts.

The Saints made further efforts to upgrade their front seven in this year’s draft, selecting defensive linemen, Sedrick Ellis and DeMario Pressley, with two of their first three picks. Some would argue that drafting two defensive tackles when other team needs existed was overkill, but both Ellis and Pressley could get significant playing time this season. Although drafting two defensive tackles doesn't necessarily spell doom for incumbents Hollis Thomas and Brian Young, provided Pressley makes the team, defensive tackle should be a deep position for the Saints this season. The Saints’ rotation next year could include Thomas, Ellis, Young and Pressley, along with Antwan Lake and Kendrick Clancy. That rotation, along with Pro Bowl caliber defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith and off-season addition Bobby McCray, should leave the Saints with a formidable defensive line in 2008. Not to mention, the Saints’ front seven now features five first-round draft picks. And, should the Saints suffer an injury or two, they will now have capable replacements, instead of guys nobody has ever heard of like Josh Cooper.

As the Giants proved in 2007, a team doesn’t need an elite secondary to win championships. As my co-writer Vern’s article (http://saintsgomarching.blogspot.com/2008/05/rome-was-not-built-in-day.html) pointed out on Tuesday, great dynasties of the past have frequently been built upon an elite quarterback and either a top 5 offense or defense. The Saints have an elite quarterback and should rank in the top 5 offensively again this season; now, they’re focusing on building that championship defense by following the lead of the Giants. The Saints are now building a strong front seven with sufficient depth. If the Saints can effectively copy the blueprint the Giants created, then Saints fans should look forward to some lower scoring games this season, from their opponents at least.

Who Dat News: Another Year of EJ

News: The New Orleans Saints are no longer pursuing New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey, according to a recent interview with Saints GM Mickey Loomis. "It's no secret we had some discussions with them and we just couldn't come to a conclusion on the right compensation," Loomis told Sirius NFL Radio. "But for the most part that's dead," he said of the trade talks. "I don't anticipate that being rekindled." The club will once again go with Eric Johnson as their primary option at tight end.

WhoDatSay: We credit Loomis for not overpaying for Shockey as the asking price was simply too high. Unfortunately, that means one more year of the disappointing Eric Johnson. One more year of Eric Johnson tip-drilling balls to opposing secondaries. One more year of 4 yards per catch. One more year of frustration for Saints fans, but hey, we're used to it, when is the last time we had a good tight end? Hopefully the tight ends on our roster can combine for some production this year though.