Interesting take from Adam Schefter...

Kev is right... Carl Nicks is a must.  For those who think Evans is better hands down better look at the tapes closer.  Both are awesome and we cannot afford to lose nicks. 

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Word

Nicks protects drew and that's the most important thing. Drew will find an open receiver if he has time. But, do we have a knack for finding great o lineman? Or did we just get lucky? Could we find a serviceable, cheaper replacement that won't get drew killed? I'm glad I don't have to make these decisions.

We do have a knack for finding serviceable Linemen but why invest soooo much money in two OG's and let everyone else on your offense (besides Brees) be underpaid ?  We gotta show some love to other guys playing different positions.  Don't get me wrong, I love Nicks and wish we could keep everyone, but I think Colston is more valuable than many people think.

I disagree for the simple fact that Colston, while valuable, has missed significant time and the offense never really missed a beat. If you recall, Lance Moore just stepped in and took the looks that Colston would get.

Lance Moore missed more time than Colston though, and when it was most important........in the playoffs. Colston is our most reliable WR by far.  And he's tough as hell.  Dude broke his collarbone and was initially supposed to be out 4-6 weeks and came back in 2 weeks.  Thats remarkable.  Lance Moore is just a guy, Colston is elite.

Lance Moore missed more time than Colston though, and when it was most important........in the playoffs. Colston is our most reliable WR by far.  And he's tough as hell.  Dude broke his collarbone and was initially supposed to be out 4-6 weeks and came back in 2 weeks.  Thats remarkable.  Lance Moore is just a guy, Colston is elite.

If I had to pick Colston hands down, but Lance is very very good!

To me, Lance is only just a guy when they are both in the lineup. When he was the #1 option, he stepped up big.

I agree Colston is preferable, but if we can't secure him financially, I'll be ok.

I'd rather stretch the coin for Nicks that Colston.

I guess if we tagged Nicks it would be more suitable for us financially than if we tagged Colston.  We have to release a few players in order for us to even think about keeping Brees, Colston, and Nicks. 

How bout if we have to let Colston go, we go ahead and sign Reggie Wayne.  He's from New Orleans.

As usual BygKev is money IMO.  The foundation of a team is its Lines, PLain and simple.  Tennant probably was drafted to either replace Nicks or Goodwin, to our dismay he faied at even stayin on the active roster on gamedays.  We have NO replacement for Nicks, and to keep Brees happy (and the RB's) we need to keep Nicks.  Colston is a go to guy, but we signed the glue guy already in Lance Moore.  If we let Colaton go, somebody has to step up or we can sign a 6'4 guy in the draft to compete.  Meach is a BIG disappointment, but if we can get him back to a Devery Henderson contract makin 3 mil a year then we lowballed him and we oughta re-sign him.  Believe it or not, Plaxicao Burress is somebody we oughta look into.  sign him to a 2 yr deal, thats much easier than replacing Nicks. 

The contract thats messin things up is Roman Harper.  I really would love Malcolm Jenkins at SS and a rangier guy at FS.  Harper gonna getkilled in the zones we run with Spags.

I would not read too much in to not being on the active roster on game days.  being on the active roster also has to do a lot with the health of the people in front of you, the team you are playing and depth in other positions.  On the OL, when you have some guys like de le Punte who can play multiple positions, then you can go lighter on OL head count.

Anyway, my 2 cents...

If it is a choice betwen Nick and Colston, I'd go with Nicks. Having a great O sure does help Brees, but it also help with the run and screen passes.  The Saints are very deep at WR, so if Colston's agent demands too much, Colston will walk. And I will wish him ell except against the Saints.

I think our front office is very good at evaluating talent, but they are not clairvoyant.  Every one claims what a great pick up Colston was in the 7th round, he should have probably have gone in the first.  Right? many say that...

Well if Loomis is that great (and I am not saying he is bad) how come Colston was drafted earlier by the Saints.... just saying.. sometimes you get a little lucky. 

one other point...
Brees gets rid of the ball quickly and has a sixth sense in the pocket ("He can see sackers").  This also makes the O-line a bit better than your average QB. I'm not saying Nicks isn't worth it, but maybe someone else can come in and step right up (like de la puente did).

Oh.. one more note...
Does anyone remember our Pro-bowl Left tackle before Bushrod? 

Jamal Brown, 1st round pick by the Saints made the Probowl in 2006.  Couldn't play in 2009 due to injury. Bushrod came in and Saints won the SB. Brown is still a better tackle than Bushrod, but they still managed to win a SB with a lesser player.

As much as I like Carl Nicks, I cannot see us investing so much money into the offensive line.  No disrespect to any of the guys on the offensvie, but Drew Brees makes all of them better with his quick release and movement in the pocket.  One poster (can't remember who) talked about how bad the o-line was when we had a few guys out, well both Nicks and Evans were in that game and the Rams treated our line like rag dolls.  I think Marques Colston has proven how important he is to this team with just plain overall consistency over the years.  Lance Moore is very good, but he cannot replace Colston.  Moore is not a threat in the redzone, he can't catch jump balls and he's really not a deep threat.  Moore is really good working underneath in zone coverages and is a very solid route runner, but he's no match up nightmare like Colston.  I think he and Colston compliment each other perfectly, it's really just a matter of getting them on the field at the same time. 

Here's how I see it....Drew & Colston get their contracts, franchise Nicks or let him walk.  I think De La Puente or Tennant could move over to the LG spot and be serviceable.  Will either of them be as good as Nicks, most likely not, but that's why Drew is being paid the big bucks.  Drew can overcome average protection with the right players at his disposal and guys like Colston, Graham, Moore, & Sproles are what we need.  We've been pretty fortunate with OL late in the draft and they come a lot cheaper and w/ less baggage than a top tier WR.  Colston has been solid since day one and deserves to be rewarded with another long term deal.  Nicks has well, but having two elite guards making top dollar is literally putting all your eggs in one basket.

As for the defense...I'd like to see Tracy Porter come back.  Stanford Routt was cut from the Raiders so he's an option but who knows how much $ he'll be expecting.  We should be looking to trade Roman Harper and re-negotiating with Will Smith.  I'd like to see Smith in Spags' defense at least just for one year, besides he's our best pass rusher at this point.  Like Smith, I think Vilma and Greer need to stay with the team.  I don't know why some of you are so low on Jonathan Vilma.  He battled injuries all year and still played his heart out when he was able to get on the field.  He's also one of the smartest players in the league, not just on the team, but in the entire league.  I'd like to see him in Spags' new defense as well.  Dunbar played well and should be a starter next year, but getting rid of VIlma after one sub par year riddled with injuries just doesn't make sense to me.  Also, Jabari Greer is our best CB and one of the most underrated CBs in the league.  Getting rid of him is just plain silly and makes no sense at all.  His salary is more than worth it considering what we have on the back end of this defense. 

The problem with not re-signing Nicks is the fact we have absolutely NO depth at Guard or Center.  Considering that we had picks like Bushrod & Strief that were ready and had game action, this is not the case with Matt Tennant.  Tennant had plenty opportunities to Supplant Olin Kreutz and didnt.  De La Puente came in and subbed.  Hell, I dont think Tennant saw the field much even as a sub.  I think the Saints should have saw this scenario coming and they should have had young depth groomed and ready to be primed for a bigger role.  I dont see De Lapuente being as effective without Nicks. 

Also everyone needs to look at game film.  Breezy has PLENTY time in the pocket.  He dosent make the movers until he sees the targets arent open.  In fact Ive seen him hold the ball and look for 6 seconds once before scrambling to find Colston.  The line is getting the protection and losing Nicks hurts this.  Also when has Nicks been injured?  You're saying to let go a player with no injuy history? 

I say SIgn Breezy and franchise or sign Nicks.  Keep Lance Moore as he's the glue guy of the recievers.  See if Meach will re-sign at a salary a lil less than Henderson's @ abt 2.5-3 mil a year for 4 years.  If he does that, cut Henderson and grab a big experienced guy like Mike Sims-Walker or Steve Smith (Philly) and find a gem that fell out of the 1st or second round and draft him in the 3rd to develop (they are saying this may be the greatest WR class ever).  Personally with Brees under the gun, the RB's we have and a tight end named Jimmy, a group of wideouts like Lance Moore, Steve Smith, Robert Meachem, and Home grown Reuben Randle (of course Arrington and Roby) We wont miss a beat without Colston.

The money will be utilized into greater needs of a highly questionable defense.  Spags needs to figure out who the hell are real football players instead of relying on 4 men to tackle one dude all the time when they make a play.  Jabari Greer is prolly the best player on this Defense and the rest need to be coached up.  Dashon Goldson would look real good at FS with Jenkins starting at SS but spelling the nickel corner and the FS.  Roman Harper is best as a kinda 6th man if you will.  With that contract he isnt goin anywhere.  I dont want to cut Vilma and/or Smith, but it would be nice if Will Smith could go to LE and make Cam Jordan a hybrid DE/DT while we grab an older cheap guy like Andre Carter and continue grooming Greg Romeus and Junior Gallette.

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This.

I've been trying to determine the Saints cap space and every place I look has a different number. Does anyone know what the actual contactual commitments are as of now?

Good luck finding the ironclad number my friend. You'd have to contact the league office for it.

Every news source gives something different.

Expect it to improve though, and some unexpected cuts to be made to free up some space.

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I wanted to say one little thing as yet another argument to keep Nicks.

The Saints do not do nearly as well when we can't run the football. A "servicable" guard does not keep us in the Top 10 in rushing, thus allowing Drew to throw over 5k passing per year. Consider that in 2010, we were tied for 28th in rushing - and although Drew did chuck the rock for over 4600 yds and 33td's, he also had 22 interceptions.

In 2011 (and 2009) we were ranked 6th in rushing and Drew - and the whole offense - was much more efficient. The bottom line - if we're going to snag another Lombardi, we have to be able to run the football. That is much more critical, in my mind, than any drop-off from replacing Colston.

Drop off from Nicks = likely out of the top 10 in rushing, less efficient passing game, no Lombardi.
Drop off from Colston = Still top 10 rushing, NOT likely out of the top 10 in passing, slightly less efficient passing game = Lombardi #2.

Tag Nicks

There is one other thing that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere. Compensatory picks. We would pick up a 3rd round pick in the 2013 draft if we lost Nicks in free agency. He is considered the top guard in the league and would recieve the highest compensatory pick. Does that play into Loomis' thinking? Loomis took a chance with Nicks initially. He wasn't viewed as a future star when he was drafted. Loomis could easily say - I just turned a 5th round pick into a 3rd round pick, kept a couple of key players with the money saved, and can sign/draft an adequate replacement just like I have in the past. Instead of keeping one excellent piece, I was able to shore up 3 or more positions and still save on cap space.

Just a thought to ponder.

In 2011 (and 2009) we were ranked 6th in rushing and Drew - and the whole offense - was much more efficient. The bottom line - if we're going to snag another Lombardi, we have to be able to run the football. That is much more critical, in my mind, than any drop-off from replacing Colston. 

Saints were 6th in rushing, this is true. But attributing it just to line is not entirley right in 2009, or any year for that fact.  A lot has to do with how the game turned out.  In 2009, the defense was just grabbin gthe ball two or three times per game, if not more.  Giving the offense so many touches and leads that eventually ked to the other D getting tired and the Saints running the clock out.

I like them both.  But if the cost is for either is a detrimine to the D, I say let them both walk.