Interesting take from Adam Schefter...

on Drew Brees' contract and what it means for the other unrestricted free agents. There is some news here I was not aware of.

7. Brees fallout: The Saints' failure to sign quarterback Drew Brees to a contract extension this season probably will wind up hurting them this offseason. Unless New Orleans can get a deal done with Brees in the next month, the Saints will have to use their franchise tag on him, which means they will not have it available for wide receiver Marques Colston or Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks. Colston already has said he will not give New Orleans a hometown discount, and Nicks also is expected to leave New Orleans, according to league sources. The Saints already have committed big money to guard Jahri Evans. It would be challenging for New Orleans to make two guards two of the highest-paid players at their position in the league, and so the lack of a tag probably means goodbye to Nicks. Failing to get a deal done with Brees might not have seemed like a significant issue at the time, but it will cost New Orleans.

I wasn't aware of Colston saying he wouldn't give a hometown discount, but I can understand why not. He is a top 10, maybe top 5 receiver in this league.

But the league source expecting Nicks not to stay is big news to me. I didn't know it was perceived as that certain. Keeping both of these guys is a must to me, so let's hope for the best.

I think they get a deal done with Brees, slap the tag on Colston, and let Nicks go to the Cowboys or the highest bidder.  Then the question is, what do we do with Porter and Meachem ? 

This does not sound good at all.  I didn't know that about Marques Colston or Carl Nicks either.  In my opinion, Brees, Colston, & Nicks are the main guys I want the Saints to keep.  Hopefully Mickey can get something done with Drew in the next couple of weeks so we can franchise one of these guys.  I think all three of these guys deserve big pay days, but my selfish side says they need to think about the team more.  What really sucks is that they've already won a SB together so there's really no incentive for wanting to stay with the team other than to be apart of something special.  Damn....not looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

Honestly, Colston is a good reciever that looks a lot better because of Bree's. The system we run we can replace reciever and not miss much of a beat. With Moore, Arrington, Henderson, Graham, and Sproles. I feel Colston is much more expandable than Nicks. Nick is the guard in the league and he is the reason we run the ball. He is just a straight mauler. Like I said, I believe its kind of like a Peyton Manning thing in Indy. Brees can make any reciever twice as good as they really are. I would love Colston to come back, but my priority would be Nicks.

Sign Brees obviously, sign Colston, if we can Franchise Nicks or let him go slide De La Puente into the LG and Tennant to C. With the money we save on Nicks we can grab a stud or two on defense.

I agree jrendon.  Its gonna be a surprise if we can keep Brees, Colston, and Nicks, especially when Colston already said he's not taking a hometown discount and it seems by everything I've been reading that Nicks already got one foot out the door cause he knows he's gonna get paid big time.  Its reality peeple and we're pretty much all the same in which we would love to see all or most of our guys come back, but then we won't have the cap space to fix the problems on "D" and we'll be right back to where we left off this year......a divisional round loss.  You gotta give up something if you want to gain something.  We're off in the right direction with signing Spagnuolo, now lets keep it up.

Sorry to say it, but I think Nicks is way more valuable than Colston. That's not a knock on Colston, but Nicks is now considered the best guard in the game, this early in his career. He's got nothing buy years of great football ahead of him. I know we're strapped for cash, but I think it's pretty safe to say we will resign Drew, lets just slap the tag on Nicks. I can't recall if the new CB agreement got rid of transition tags or not, if not we could use one of those. I love Colston, but with Grahm and Sproles, we can get by without him. You guys saw the mess the offensive line was in when Strief and Kruetz went down. Who are we gonna find to replace Nicks? Nobody, that's who. We should try to trade Harper, Will Smith, and yes I'll say it, J. Vilma, to try to get some draft picks. As far as I'm concerned, Tracy Porter is gone. He didn't play like he wanted to stay, and truth be told, Meachem played cautious this season, because it was a contract year for him. Colston still went out there and put it on the line. If I had to let one go, I would let Meach go, just because of that. I would not let Nicks get away though, he is up there with Drew in terms of importance to be brought back to this team.

I would take Evans over Nicks anyday, I've always thought Nicks was just a little over-rated, saying that I think he is a top 5 or 6 gaurd in the league but someone is gonna pay him more than Evans and he's not as good. Hopefully theyll get Brees signed and can tag Nicks or Colston, I Think thats Colston's agent saying he won't take a home town discount hopefully he will. I agree with you on Smith and Harper, I like both of them but we paid WAY to much to keep em.

Yeah Harper is good trade bait, but Will Smith is pretty much untradeable with that high cap number and average production, if anything he'll get cut.  Vilma maybe, but I would keep him cause he's intelligent and he looked slow and everyone said he lost a step but he wasn't 100%.  I would keep Colston over Nicks though cause he is like having a fast TE on the field, add Jimmy Graham and Sproles to that and thats why our offense is so potent.  We can slide guys over and move dudes around along the O-Line and be fine.  Plus Micky Loomis is great at finding gems at the offensive line positions in the draft.  I want Mario Williams to come here.  Remember thats who we wanted in 2006 but Houston drafted him 1st overall.  He'll be BIG $$$ though.

I don't think Roman Harper is good trade bait.  He's good at sacking the QB, and that's about it.  Plus he's making $7mill per year and $16mill guaranteed... name 1 team that wants that.  Clearly, we're saying we don't, so who?  My only thought on him is perhaps a new DC can help teach him technique.

Carl Nicks vs. Marques Colston... Colston helps win/lose almost every game.  "Nice catch, oh... he fumbled it away..."  That's the bad side of him, but the good side is the guy is good for 1000+ yards and 12+ TDs a year.  That's awesome.  The talk of the hometown discount must be his agent.  Remember the last contract talks with him?  He didn't care.  Signed a big $ contract & went out and bought a used car and a very modest condo.

Nicks, even if he is "overrated" he's still not easily replaceable.  He's going into his 5th season and is entering his prime.  Not sure how many (if any) sacks he allowed this season, but protecting Drew Brees is the ultimate goal.  Brees can't get the ball to Colston, Jimmy Graham, or Darren Sproles if he's picking grass outta his facemask.

My advise... gut the defense of all the half-assed high dollar guys (Roman Harper, Will Smith (almost $10mill), Sedrick Ellis ($6mill)) and you could even look at Jabari Greer at $6mill +.

I know Nicks will be hard to replace (if he does leave) but IF he is jus going where ever the money is then I dont see us resigning him, someone will make him the highest paid gaurd and we wont/cant match that... But one thing I have seen is that big ass Flor De Lis on his arm so maybe he will take a "home town discount". And Mid Iowa I agree with cutting ur defense list except for Greer, hes too good to let go.

How many times did Colston cost us a game, everyone fumbles... Whats the difference between an int and a fumble, a turnover is a turnover.

Saint601, I was being a smart-arse about Colston.  He has a few screwups at the beginning of some games, but I can only think of one where he cost us, where he tried to get in the endzone and got hit & fumbled.  Not sure when or where that was, but likely not too important.

Greer does pretty good.  Does he do $6mill good? (I find conflicting reports on his salary. One says about $4.5 which I'm good with, the other said over $6 which I'm not).

Oooh.... my bad, had a dumb moment, next time I'll know but in my defence it is hard to tell if someone is being a smart-arse or not sometimes on here.... but thats just my excuse


The only thing about Greer is he is the best CB we got so it would be hard to let him go.

I agree 601 I love Greer and always said he was vastly underrated even when he was in Buffalo.  I think the game Colston fumbled it away was the game against St. Louis last season, but whatever. 

Beef up Harper a little.  Maybe 15 more pounds and stick him at WLB.  Shoot he plays up there most of the time anyway.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree here. We have seen the WR spot be replaced in our offense. The same can not be said of the offensive line. I guarantee that if Nicks is not in there, we are not as good. Plus add the fact that the majority of the run plays were ran to his side, he is an absolute beast, as is Evans, but to say Colston holds more value, based on their positions is just something I can't roll with. WR come and go, but top notch O-line are 10 year plus performers. Those are the types of guys that you keep around. A talent like Nicks you just dont' let ride out after his first contract. He is worth the money for his play, and how in the world is a former 5th round pick an overrated player, when he's considered to be one of the top 2 guards in the league. I just don't see it. How much decline did the offense suffer while Colston was out? How did the team fare when the offensive line was in flux because of Strief and Kruetz? Now what if that had been Nicks or Evans out? Sorry but when I look at things in the light, the decision is an easy one. The truth of the matter is that Nics has been underpaid for the past 2 seasons and he is due a big payday.

He is good but do u think we will be able to afford to have the two highest paid gaurds in the league and keep other peaple AND fix our D, and why does everyone keep bringing up Krutz he sucked for us, he got replaced and thats why he retired. I would love to keep Nicks I pray to god they can find a way to keep him, if they get Brees's deal worked out they will def franchise tag him. Maybe I shouldn't of used the worfd overrated, I was jus saying someone will pay him more than Evan and Evans is better... where did you get the stat that we ran to the left side the majority of the time?? And to say a WR like Colston comes and goes is jus ridiculous, Not only is he good on the field he is good off the field and isnt a diva like almost every other #1 WR.

On another note, what do yall think off Bushrod... I know he made the probowl but most of the time he had either a TE or RB chip block whoever he was blocking. I dont like him and think there needs to be an upgrade there.

I think Bushrod is ok but he can't handle some of the better DE's in the league.  Charles Brown had been a project, but I think he really can push Jermon for that spot though.  As for the Colston/Nicks saga, one of them has to go (I know,.... it sucks) but if we keep both of them and sign Brees, we'll have NO $$$ to upgrade our "D" and we'll be right back to where we were this year.  Add to that the cuts we're gonna have to make on some of these ridiculous salaries.  I want Mario Williams !!!

601, it's all good. It's really hard to express an attitude on here (one way or the other) and I was in a hurry ;)

If you look at our salary situation, we've got some issues down the road, so let's get some good play now.  We have quite a few high performing guys who are making peanuts.  I'm sure there are some guarantees in there that I can't see, but base salaries for guys like Chris Ivory at under $500k and Mark Ingram at under $900k are going to be redone sooner rather than later.

I will always say the two most important position area are the O-line and QB; therefore, address them first.  Marques Colston knows no other turf than ours, so I'd love to keep him.  I wonder how much lip-smacking his agent is doing... I hate agents!  (unless they get us a good deal)

Mass, you're right, Colston's goal line fumble was at Saint Louis in 2009.  I was at that game & thought we lost it right then, but we didn't, so my earlier coment hold about as much water as a screen door.

Here is something for all to consider on the Nicks/Colston issue, if it comes down to that decision.

Drew Brees HAS to have top-notch protection from the guards.  He has to based on his height and how that makes him play. As we know, he's great at avoiding pressure off the edges with his slide--he might be the best in the league at moving laterally in the pocket.  And his throwing lanes are made by the middle three in that line. After he slides, he has to be able to climb in the pocket. Keeping Nicks is more important than keeping Colston. That doesn't make Colston expendable necessarily, he's important to what this team has done the last six years, but in a side-by-side comparions, Nicks wins out.

What will be real tragic is losing them both, but I'm almost certain at least one is going.

But Kev brought up another valid point regarding how many years we are going to get out of both.

Colston is 28. As a receiver, I see about 5 more years of this type of play out of him, at most.

Carl Nicks is 26. As a guard, and the mauler he is, he can dominate at his position for 6-7 more years.

The reality is that you don't want to do anything that could potentially risk putting Brees on the ground more during what are sure to be his last 3-4 great seasons and hasten his departure.

With Graham, Sproles, Henderson, and Moore sure to be here next season, Drew Brees can make ends meet. He might not see 5,000 yds and 46 TDs again, but throwing less next year might be a good thing.

Either way it's going to be tough to keep Brees, Colston, and Nicks happy financially.