Saints Nation: Pierre Thomas and Jammal Brown Are No Shows at OTAs

The Saints still have four restricted free agents that do not have signed contracts with the team. While Lance Moore and Roman Harper haven't let that prevent them from coming to OTAs, Pierre Thomas and Jammal Brown have elected not to participate as they hold out for contracts. Before anyone panics, we all know that a long term extension is coming for Thomas. My guess is that his extension is Mickey Loomis' offseason priority at this point, so I expect something to get done in the not too distant future. I am a little surprised PT decided to skip these practices, though, because I was under the impression he wasn't going to put up much distraction while his contract was worked out. Perhaps they've come to a sticking point in negotiations and his agent advised him to change his approach to help things along? Long term deals for running backs are always the toughest to negotiate, because the back feels like they're a playmaking contributor that deserves a hefty sum, and the team fears investing too much long term in a position that is so vulnerable to injury. I think most running backs realize their durability is less assured than some positions, so that adds to the issue as they want to get paid while they're healthy.

As we've discussed ad nauseam about Jammal Brown, there's still no telling where that is going. With the Saints trusting Jermon Bushrod and Zach Strief, and with them drafting Charles Brown, they don't need to invest longterm in Jammal. Based on his latest injury he does not have much of a bargaining chip. I still think he could get traded, but you can't trade a player with no contract. I could speculate about how that situation will resolve itself, but the reality is neither I nor anyone else (possibly including the Saints' front office) have any idea.

Good to see Roman and Lance getting their practice in regardless of the lack of movement in their long term deals. I'm sure they'll get their deals locked down, too, soon enough.

Saints Nation: Jammal Brown On His Way Out?

NFL Network's Jason La Canfora has reported that Jammal Brown has been placed on the trading block. One issue in trading Brown is that he's yet to sign his restricted free agent tender, so technically he's not a member of the Saints. Brown has made it clear during the offseason that he's intent on getting a long term deal. He is currently skipping voluntary team workouts as his agent attempts to get him a more lucrative deal than the one year tender. While Brown is not under contract, the restricted free agency period has ended, which means he cannot sign with another team anymore and the Saints have exclusive negotiating rights.

Brown seems intent on refusing to sign his one year tender, which means the Saints would either need to sign him to a long term extension before trading him, or the team that's trading for him would have to agree to a long term deal with Brown prior to agreeing to ship a draft pick over to the Saints. It's a little more complicated than just straight up trading him.

The news makes sense based on the emergence of both Jermon Bushrod and Zach Strief who are both more than capable backups. Jon Stinchcomb anchors the right tackle spot and earned a pro bowl invite last year. Jammal Brown is 30 and he wants a long term extension, so given his age and injury history I can see why the Saints don't want to make the investment. That said, I can't see the Saints getting much in return for Brown. While premiere left tackles are very few and far between, the Saints are handcuffed by the current financial situation. If a team is willing to give Brown a huge contract, they're not going to want to give up much on top of that. I don't see the Saints getting a very high draft pick for him, maybe a 5th round pick tops.

In the end this makes me a little nervous, because I'm not 100% sold on Jermon Bushrod. If Brown gets shipped out, I'd like to Saints take a tackle in the 4th round or so to at least give Bushrod and Strief some competition. Both players are great role players, but they've yet to prove they can perform steadily and consistently at left tackle. There were times when Bushrod was a liability out there, and times were he was a pleasant surprise. Strief is a mammoth in size and a classic overachiever, but is he the answer for 16 games at left tackle? It seems like Bushrod is ahead of him in the pecking order, and the Saints seem to think Strief is best suited for right tackle. The problem there is Stinchcomb has that starting spot on lock-down. To be continued...

Saints Nation: What to do at Offensive Tackle?

Good offensive tackles in the NFL are at a premium in the league because they are so hard to find. The Saints, however, have four very solid ones. Starting right tackle Jon Stinchcomb is fresh off his first Pro Bowl birth, left tackle Jammal Brown has been to Pro Bowls before, and both Zach Strief and Jermon Bushrod have proven to be very capable backups that would likely be ready to play in a full time starting role if given a chance. Going into last year we knew Strief, Brown and Stinchcomb were capable players, though to Stinchcomb's credit he turned in one of his better yearly performances in 2010. Bushrod, however, was the big surprise. Up to this point in the offseason last year, Bushrod had been nothing more than a promising player that underperformed and didn't live up to his potential. Then came an injury to Jammal Brown that would shelve him for the season, and Bushrod (not Strief) was surprisingly thrown into the fire as a starter at left tackle. Considering Bushrod was immediately placed into the most important position on the line for the most high powered offense in the league, he handled himself admirably. Ultimately, he ended up being the starting left tackle for a Super Bowl champion. Pretty impressive when you consider that most viewed him as a glaring hole on the offense and a serious liability as the season would progress. I want to mention, also, that while Zach Strief only saw limited action as the starting left tackle last season behind Bushrod, the Saints thought enough of him that they were constantly finding ways to get him on the field as an extra blocker.

So the big questions become: Can the Saints afford to keep all four of these players, and if not, which one do they let go?

As of now the Saints have Stinchcomb locked up longterm, and Bushrod, Strief and Brown have all been tendered to restricted free agent contracts that make it unlikely other teams will attempt to sign them away. Right now, if healthy, Jammal Brown still represents the team's best option at left tackle. It remains to be seen based on his injury history, though, if the Saints are willing to risk investing in Brown long term. It also remains to be seen if he's fully recovered enough from his serious hip surgery in 2009 to play at the level he's accustomed to. Brown is a premiere tackle when on his game, no doubt, but he's gone through patches of injury and poor play before. Bushrod did prove that he could fill in admirably for Brown last year, but his performances were up and down, and the Saints devised many blocking schemes targeted at helping Bushrod. Whether it was line shifts, double teams, chips from a back, or play action plays run away from the left side, the Saints often focused on relieving Bushrod of as much pressure as possible. While the offense still managed to have tons of success that way, it would be nice to put less pressure on the other players on the line and allow coach Payton to be more versatile in his play calling. Bushrod should only get better, but will he ever be good enough to give the Saints reason to invest in him long term? As far as Strief, it seems as though he's best suited for a spot at right tackle, and right now there's no way he's bumping Stinchcomb from the starting rotation.

Ultimately the Saints, while it was difficult, found ways to get three tackles involved in the gameplan last year. I don't think it's realistic that they'll be able to do that with four healthy tackles, and with the current value that Jammal Brown and Jermon Bushrod carry, I think they are the most likely to get shipped. Strief is too valuable as a backup and role player to the team, and he's not valuable enough on the open market, so I don't see him leaving. I think Bushrod, based on his performance last year, may actually be overvalued on the current open market. Brown is a little bit of an enigma, because while he's probably valued highly based on his accolades, he carries a high price tag and a big injury risk. I can't imagine the Saints will keep all four players, but I'm not certain of which player they would part with. It is possible that the Saints will keep the four tackles for one more year in an effort to get more answers as to who should be in their long term plans. Either way it's a good problem to have for the team. Too many good tackles is the opposite of what most NFL teams deal with, which is not enough.