The Saints have been pursuing veteran defensive linemen since free agent opened: Jamal Williams, Leonard Little, and James Hall. Why not add a relatively familiar face to that list in former Saint Darren Howard?
Howard was the second pick of the second round in the 2000 NFL Draft, the highest pick the Saints had left after the Ricky Williams trade the year prior. The Saints were thrilled to add him, as the pass rusher from Kansas State had somehow slipped out of the first round.
Howard was an immediate success in New Orleans, teaming with Joe Johnson, Norman Hand and LaRoi Glover to be the strongest unit on the team as the Saints were propelled to their first playoff victory in franchise history.
Collecting 44.5 sacks in six seasons, Howard left the Saints after the dismal 2005 season for Philadelphia. He started all 16 games for the Eagles and helped them into the divisional playoffs where he would make his last career start in the Superdome in 2006.
In that game, Howard recovered a key late Reggie Bush fumble near midfield that gave the Eagles offense one last shot. The Saints defense was able to shut down McNabb and the Eagles with less than two minutes left, and the Saints offense ran out the clock on a 27-24 victory.
Since then, Howard hasn't started a regular season game but moved into a situational pass rusher role. Playing both end and tackle, the 6'3, 260 pounder collected 17.5 sacks over the past three seasons as the first defensive lineman off the bench for the Eagles. He collected 6.5 sacks in 2009, not a bad number and more than any Saint except for DE Will Smith (13.0).
These stats on IgglesBlog indicate Howard's decline past age 33 however, and help explain why the Eagles made the move to acquire Seahawks DE Darryl Tapp to replace Howard.
We'll see if he draws the Saints' attention.
March 18, 2010
Saints visit with free agent RB Fargas
As RB Mike Bell is set to become a member of the Eagles, the Saints visited with free agent RB Justin Fargas on Tuesday.
This is a curious move, in that Bell was given a low tender in part because of the three other backs on the Saints' roster: Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and Lynell Hamilton. The Saints will also return a healthy Heath Evans, a versatile fullback, in 2010.
Fargas despite being 30 years old has really only received significant playing time in four NFL seasons out of his seven, all with the Raiders. With 80 carries in his first three seasons, he then lead the team in rushing for three straight years before being usurped by Darren McFadden last year.
Fargas broke his leg as a freshman at Michigan, never got on track and transferred to USC as a Senior. Since his arrival in the NFL he's been beset by injuries, including knee injuries in 2003, 2007 and 2009.
Fargas has a collision-happy running style, a mix of Pierre Thomas' never-go-down spinning and fighting and Mike Bell's one-cut sprint. Its been blamed for his near-constant injury issues, though never criticized - Fargas is beloved in Oakland. He was released after the Raiders claim he failed a physical, which Fargas denies.
He remains an unrestricted free agent after also meeting with the Browns, Chiefs and Eagles. No contract offer from the Saints was reported. Fargas was cut by the Raiders, meaning that he would not qualify as the one free agent addition to offset the loss of Scott Fujita.
Fargas is the son of the actor Antonio Fargas, who played "Huggy Bear" on the 1970s TV show Starsky and Hutch.
So the visit with Fargas could be smoke screen, though we're not sure who. Or it could indicate some unannounced problem with Thomas, Bush, or Hamilton.
This is a curious move, in that Bell was given a low tender in part because of the three other backs on the Saints' roster: Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and Lynell Hamilton. The Saints will also return a healthy Heath Evans, a versatile fullback, in 2010.
Fargas despite being 30 years old has really only received significant playing time in four NFL seasons out of his seven, all with the Raiders. With 80 carries in his first three seasons, he then lead the team in rushing for three straight years before being usurped by Darren McFadden last year.
Fargas broke his leg as a freshman at Michigan, never got on track and transferred to USC as a Senior. Since his arrival in the NFL he's been beset by injuries, including knee injuries in 2003, 2007 and 2009.
Fargas has a collision-happy running style, a mix of Pierre Thomas' never-go-down spinning and fighting and Mike Bell's one-cut sprint. Its been blamed for his near-constant injury issues, though never criticized - Fargas is beloved in Oakland. He was released after the Raiders claim he failed a physical, which Fargas denies.
He remains an unrestricted free agent after also meeting with the Browns, Chiefs and Eagles. No contract offer from the Saints was reported. Fargas was cut by the Raiders, meaning that he would not qualify as the one free agent addition to offset the loss of Scott Fujita.
Fargas is the son of the actor Antonio Fargas, who played "Huggy Bear" on the 1970s TV show Starsky and Hutch.
So the visit with Fargas could be smoke screen, though we're not sure who. Or it could indicate some unannounced problem with Thomas, Bush, or Hamilton.
March 16, 2010
Saints RB Bell to be an Eagle in 7 days
The Eagles have signed Saints restricted free agent RB Mike Bell to a one year, $1.7 million offer sheet.
Bell signed the offer sheet Tuesday night. He appears to be headed for a #2 RB job in Philadelphia. In New Orleans, he would be facing stiff competition from youngster Lynell Hamilton to win the #3 RB job.
The contract includes $500,000 in guaranteed money and with performance incentives, could net Bell over $2 million. That's potentially double what the Saints were willing to pay Bell in 2010, his low restricted free agent tender of $1.176 million.
The Saints will almost certainly decline to match the offer in seven days, and Bell will be an Eagle and the primary backup to LeSean McCoy.
UPDATE: The offer sheet was officially signed and submitted on Wednesday, March 17. The Saints have until Wednesday, March 24 to respond to the offer.
Bell signed the offer sheet Tuesday night. He appears to be headed for a #2 RB job in Philadelphia. In New Orleans, he would be facing stiff competition from youngster Lynell Hamilton to win the #3 RB job.
The contract includes $500,000 in guaranteed money and with performance incentives, could net Bell over $2 million. That's potentially double what the Saints were willing to pay Bell in 2010, his low restricted free agent tender of $1.176 million.
The Saints will almost certainly decline to match the offer in seven days, and Bell will be an Eagle and the primary backup to LeSean McCoy.
UPDATE: The offer sheet was officially signed and submitted on Wednesday, March 17. The Saints have until Wednesday, March 24 to respond to the offer.
March 15, 2010
Saints RFA DT Hargrove to visit Detroit; poison pill possibility
The Saints net sum of transactions so far in free agency 2010 have been the loss of defensive stalwart Scott Fujita, a host of minor re-signings, one incoming visit (free agent DT James Hall) and a few misses (DT Jamal Williams, QB Jake Delhomme, RB LaDainian Tomlinson?).
That may change soon.
Reserve defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove is a restricted free agent with a third-round pick price tag on his head and will be visiting Detroit on Tuesday March 16.
Should he sign an offer sheet with the Lions, the Saints would have seven days to consider matching the offer. Should they match, Hargrove becomes a Saint under those contract terms - essentially, the Lions did the negotiating work for the Saints. Should they decline, Hargrove becomes a Lion, and their 3rd round pick goes to the Saints.
Additionally, restricted free agent Mike Bell will make his second visit. Last week he met with Seattle, now he will meet with Philadelphia.
Bell is a restricted free agent tendered at a level with no compensation for the Saints should he leave. The Saints do have right of first refusal on any contract offer sheet Bell signs.
This is the point where Saints fans should become familiar with the term "poison pill."
The trick is in the wording above - Hargrove becomes a Saint under contract terms that the Lions negotiated. When new teams sign players to restricted offer sheets, they usually (and honestly) do so by offering to play the player more than the old team would care to pay.
For example, the Saints front-loaded their contract offer to CB Jason David in 2007, forcing the Colts' hand to let him leave.
However, three prominent poison pill cases in the past were not so conventional.
The Jets stole RB Curtis Martin from the Patriots with a "poison pill," including language in the contract that would make Martin an unrestricted free agent after only one year if the Patriots matched in 1998.
In 2005, the Vikings used a poison pill to prevent Seattle from matching an offer sheet for star guard Steve Hutchinson. That contract guaranteed the entire balance of Hutchinson's contract if he wasn't the highest-paid offensive lineman on the team. With star LT Walter Jones having recently signed a big contact, had Seattle matched the offer it would have made Hutchinson's contract instantly guaranteed - $49 million. That cap burden would have been damaging to Seattle, or any team.
The Seahawks responded by signing Vikings WR Nate Burleson to a sardonically-matching seven year, $49 million contract offer. This one included a "poison pill" that required Burleson's contact be guaranteed should he play a certain number of games inside the state of Minnesota. To the Seahawks, thanks to certain unlikely incentives, the contract offer was a mere four year, $14 million deal.
The concept of a poison pill was hotly debated after the Seahawks and Vikings sparred via Hutchinson and Burleson, with the Player's Union in favor of them because it furthered the ability of players to move from team to team.
The league disliked it for obvious competitive reasons, and the Vikings caught a storm of strife from the league afterwards. The method is entirely permissible in the books, though that it hasn't happened on such a large scale since 2005 gives belief that the league has strongly discouraged it.
That may change soon.
Reserve defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove is a restricted free agent with a third-round pick price tag on his head and will be visiting Detroit on Tuesday March 16.
Should he sign an offer sheet with the Lions, the Saints would have seven days to consider matching the offer. Should they match, Hargrove becomes a Saint under those contract terms - essentially, the Lions did the negotiating work for the Saints. Should they decline, Hargrove becomes a Lion, and their 3rd round pick goes to the Saints.
Additionally, restricted free agent Mike Bell will make his second visit. Last week he met with Seattle, now he will meet with Philadelphia.
Bell is a restricted free agent tendered at a level with no compensation for the Saints should he leave. The Saints do have right of first refusal on any contract offer sheet Bell signs.
This is the point where Saints fans should become familiar with the term "poison pill."
The trick is in the wording above - Hargrove becomes a Saint under contract terms that the Lions negotiated. When new teams sign players to restricted offer sheets, they usually (and honestly) do so by offering to play the player more than the old team would care to pay.
For example, the Saints front-loaded their contract offer to CB Jason David in 2007, forcing the Colts' hand to let him leave.
However, three prominent poison pill cases in the past were not so conventional.
The Jets stole RB Curtis Martin from the Patriots with a "poison pill," including language in the contract that would make Martin an unrestricted free agent after only one year if the Patriots matched in 1998.
In 2005, the Vikings used a poison pill to prevent Seattle from matching an offer sheet for star guard Steve Hutchinson. That contract guaranteed the entire balance of Hutchinson's contract if he wasn't the highest-paid offensive lineman on the team. With star LT Walter Jones having recently signed a big contact, had Seattle matched the offer it would have made Hutchinson's contract instantly guaranteed - $49 million. That cap burden would have been damaging to Seattle, or any team.
The Seahawks responded by signing Vikings WR Nate Burleson to a sardonically-matching seven year, $49 million contract offer. This one included a "poison pill" that required Burleson's contact be guaranteed should he play a certain number of games inside the state of Minnesota. To the Seahawks, thanks to certain unlikely incentives, the contract offer was a mere four year, $14 million deal.
The concept of a poison pill was hotly debated after the Seahawks and Vikings sparred via Hutchinson and Burleson, with the Player's Union in favor of them because it furthered the ability of players to move from team to team.
The league disliked it for obvious competitive reasons, and the Vikings caught a storm of strife from the league afterwards. The method is entirely permissible in the books, though that it hasn't happened on such a large scale since 2005 gives belief that the league has strongly discouraged it.
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