Big Daddy Appreciates Roster Depth posted by Les Leonard

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     Saints reserves flexed their muscles down the stretch Friday night, obvious bench-strength improvements on defense and running back certainly complement the NFL’ s most prolific offense looking toward the upcoming 2010 campaign. Leigh Torrence’ s and Chris Ivory’ s fourth quarter fireworks shattered the Chargers’ dreams of a happy Big Easy ending. That won’t be the case for the thousands of black leather clad visitors (accented by purple and powder blue feathers) prancing through the Vieux Carre this Labor Day weekend. Enterprising Marigny and Bywater lads who took advantage shake-weight TV offers will see the Fruits of Labor come to fruition during the annual Southern Decadence extravaganza. In this week’s edition the Section 645 Saints Beat, Big Daddy celebrates Ben Sherman’s 40th Birthday, second lines at Parasol’s, reports from Section 645, recaps the San Diego game, remembers Hurricane Katrina, and releases his World Famous Pregame Information.

     Renowned Kingpin owner and $ Thousand Car bassist icon, Steve Watson organized a surprise 40th Birthday Bash for Ben Sherman (his Kingpin partner-in-crime) on Saturday. Ben’s chest grab and the shocked look on his face when he entered the Martinque Bistro reminded Big Daddy of Fred Sanford proclaiming: “Elizabeth I’m coming to join you honey!” The Kingpin all-star lineup began a memorable day with a special “Sherm” Martinque lunch menu. Legendary chefs Eric LaBouchere and Nat Carrier redefined the term “fine dining experience.” The food was so awesome, it would have had Emeril Lagasse wondering how to duplicate such perfection. Thank you so much guys. Unfortunately, Mother Nature washed out our Lakewood golf outing, and there was no availability at any area bowling alleys— so did what we do best, bar hopped across Uptown (courtesy of our wonderful chauffeur, Tamme), finally settling in at Parasol’s to waste away the afternoon. The Kingpin became the medicated delegation’s last destination, where Ben delivered a endearing speech thanking his Mom, Steve, the Kingpin staff, and all of his friends for helping him turn 40 like a champion.

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Big Daddy Measures Saints’ Fans Preparedness posted by Les Leonard

     Big Daddy noticed that Superdome seats were filled nearly to capacity Saturday night for the preseason home opener against our closest NFL neighbor, Houston. If you have been following the 2010 NFL preseason like Big Daddy, you have observed half-empty stadiums all around the league, demonstrating how football fans in other NFL cities believe glorified practices are not worth their time. Do you know why Big Daddy loves the Big Easy so much? Besides the music, food, culture, and laid back lifestyle, evidently, we’ re the only Americans who understand that football at half-speed, beats the crap out of anything else. Sort of like the scientific theory stating: “ Warm beer is way better than no beer.” Hmmm; didn’t Einstein write that theory? In this edition of the Section 645 Saints Beat, Big Daddy reviews “If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don’t Rise,” tours Champions Square, reports from Section 645, recaps the Houston game, collects some sentimental Parasol’s memorabilia, and releases his World Famous Pregame Information. 

     As Hurricane Katrina’s 5th anniversary quickly approaches, how many of you saw “If God Is Willing And The Creek Don’t Rise?” Spike Lee’ s HBO sequel to “When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” Despite Lee’s usual slanted race card tactics, intended to incite anger African Americans and lay harder guilt-trips on Whitey than any organized religion, Spike’s sometimes hard- to-watch emotional film is well done. Opening scenes show the Saints wining the Super Bowl, the ensuing Bourbon Street celebration, the Saints victory parade, plus clips of Zulu on Mardi Gras Day. Of course, Rex was excluded. Lee delves into the Charity Hospital debacle, exposes the city’s severe lack of mental care facilities, lets former FEMA Director Michael Brown recount his actions, highlights Brad Pitt’s 9th ward neighborhood rebuilding philanthropy, and champions Sean Penn’s humanitarian efforts. Familiar faces like Phyllis Montana LeBlanc, Wendell Pierce, Douglas Brinkley, Shelton “Shakespeare” Alexander, and Garland Robinette also return to continue telling their stories to regain normalcy in their post-Katrina lives. If you call New Orleans home, watch it! This documentary punches viewers in the gut almost harder than Lee’s original Crescent City work. However, Big Daddy wonders how many folks even get HBO. Considering these tough economic times, HBO subscribers are harder to find than bailed out Wall Street Banking Executives that declined their “well deserved” bonuses.

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Big Daddy Prepares For 2010, Doin 12oz. Curls posted by Les Leonard

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     Big Daddy has been training rigorously over the past two weeks, getting ready for opening day, which is now only 20 days away. After a grueling off-season enduring the NBA Playoffs, World Cup Soccer, Major League Baseball, and the Chocolate City’ s unbearably hot, sticky Summer, lifting frosty cold longnecks gets easier every August. Both of Big Daddy’ s arms were in mid-season form before halftime of the New England preseason opener. In this week’s edition of the Section 645 Saints Beat: Big Daddy gives news from around NFL, grades the 2010 draft class, points out free agent rookies to keep an eye on this preseason, delivers a Kingpin update, recaps the New England game, remembers Dave Dixon, and releases his World Famous Pregame Information.

        As the ominous 2011 collective bargaining agreement drapes a dark cloud over the NFL looking toward next year, teams and agents seemed less eager to make personnel changes this past off-season than a Capital Hill Republican that says yes. Almost every contract Big Daddy heard about were all one year deals. Owners, general managers, agents, and players are waiting for the dust to settle before agreeing to any more long term deals for high-priced players. Therefore, the reigning Super Bowl champs’ roster remains virtually in tact from 2009, with Scott Fujita, Charles Grant, Jamal Brown, and Mike Bell being the notable exceptions. That should bode well for the Black ‘n’ Gold in 2010.

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Pick Six: Preseason Game 1 posted by Randolph Charlotin

Before the first preseason game, the Patriots held a ceremony to induct RB Sam “Bam” Cunningham into the Patriots Hall of Fame. He was joined on stage by owner Bob Kraft and fellow HoFers LB Andre Tippett, QB Steve Grogan, CB Michael Haynes, K-WR Gino Cappelletti, LB Steve Nelson, and G John Hannah. Not only was I there, but I was fortunate enough to shake Cunningham’s hand and say congratulations to the newest member while wearing his throwback jersey (thanks to Bob Hyldburg for making that opportunity happen).

 

While I don't like a runningback with 5,453 career rushing yards being a HoFer, I will pay my respects to the honoree. And when his peers heap praise upon him, I won’t argue with that. Grogan said if Cunningham was the primary ball carrier instead of part of a backfield committee, he would had run for double. That would mean 10,906 yards. That’s a number that impresses me.

 

It took me this long to finally get a second viewing of the first preseason game. Hopefully it doesn’t take me as long for game two:

 

1. The secondary won the game for the Patriots. CB Terrance Wheatley deflected a pass in the endzone and made a great tackle on a boot-legging QB Chase Daniel inside the five to force a game-tying field goal. And S Sergio Brown made the hit that led to Eric Alexander’s sealing interception. Wheatley is fighting for a roster spot and probably has to beat out Jonathan Wilhite for a nickel of dime back role. And rookie free agent Brown needs to make a good enough impression to make the practice squad or possibly the active roster.

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Big Daddy Revisits Super Bowl Week posted by Les Leonard

     Hey Saints fans: Leap onboard Big Daddy’s Section 645 Saints Beat, the season-long thrill ride will take loyal readers to higher levels than they ever imagined following the Saints. Big Daddy’s weekly column provides unique critiques of each game, noteworthy current (political) events, interesting trivia, and cool historical facts filtered through a native New Orleanian’s unabridged analysis.

     In this unique edition of Section 645 Saints Beat, Big Daddy chronicles the events that occurred in the Crescent City from February 5-9, 2010. This column bridges the gap between the happy ending Saints fans experienced 6 months ago to the start of the 2010 season, way better than Ronnie Lamarque thought possible. Big Daddy details his 3-day Mardi Gras Super Bowl XLIV tailgate, recounts the events of Feb. 7 at the Kingpin, reviews the Who’s halftime show, recaps Super Bowl XLIV, attends The Second Guess Show season finale, witnesses New Orleans’ first Lombardi Gras, and releases his World Famous Pregame Information.

     During the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame weekend, Rickey Jackson became the first drafted Saint inducted into the Hall. Seeing Rickey’ s highlights brought back so many fond memories from our vaunted “ Dome Patrol” defense. Jackson’s patented sack celebration always got the Dome rockin.’ HOF festivities always culminate with the league’s first exhibition contest. This year Cincinnati and Dallas teed it up. Although viewers of Dallas’ 16-7 win endured Cris Collinsworth’ s diarrhea of the mouth, and a field littered with more yellow flags than a Nascar race, football fanatics screamed: “ Football is back!” But I digress back to Super Bowl XLIV.

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No Audience for Mankins' Moans posted by Randolph Charlotin

I thought Logan Mankins was going to be different. I believed he could conduct his contract negotiations privately. Because he kept a low profile after the season and through the draft, I figured Mankins would continue to keep his distance from the Patriots and let his agent and New England hammer out a new deal.

 

Boy, was I wrong. On Monday, loose-lipped Logan demanded a trade and took a few swipes at the organization at the same time.

 "Right now, this is about principle with me and keeping your word and how you treat people,” Mankins told ESPN Boston on Monday. This is what I thought the foundation of the Patriots was built on. Apparently, I was wrong. Growing up, I was taught a man's word is his bond. Obviously this isn't the case with the Patriots." 

"At this point, I'm pretty frustrated, from everything that's happened and the way negotiations have gone. I want to be traded. I don't need to be here any more."

 

A player crying foul over contract negotiations is nothing new. But this year there seems to be a spike in angst as franchises face an uncertain future with an uncapped year and labor negotiations coming up. With teams being very reluctant to hand over big deals without the legislation for how contracts will be structured for the next labor deal, the players are being left without the financial security of a long term contract.

 

Mankins is in limbo with several other restricted free agents in search of new deals, including Dallas’ Miles Austin, Indianapolis’ Raheem Brock, and San Diego’s Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill. Like the pair from the Chargers, Mankins opted not to sign his tender and will continue to hold out.

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A "Lights Out" Alternative posted by Randolph Charlotin

A day after the NFL Network revealed San Diego shopped OLB Shawn Merriman during the NFL Draft to New Orleans and two other teams, the Patriots re-signed DE Derrick Burgess. Knowing what is out there, Burgess’ return doesn’t excite the fan base much.

 

If given a choice between the two players, the average person would prefer Shawn “Lights Out” Merriman over Derrick “No Moniker” Burgess. But the bottom line is Burgess is better for the Patriots than Merriman.

 

It’s easy to point to money being the main reason, as Burgess probably resigned for just several hundred thousand dollars compared to Merriman’s tender which is valued at $3.27 million. But it’s deeper than that.

 

First look at Merriman’s situation. What is known is the Chargers would had exchanged Merriman for a first round pick if it wasn’t for Merriman’s agent, Tom Condon, demanding a new lucrative contract from his new team. Merriman has since fired Condon for David Dunn, removing the perceived obstacle.

 

If Dunn can speak any sense into Merriman, Dunn will convince Shawn to sign his tender and play for a new contract.

 

Merriman wants to be paid like Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware and Minnesota’s Jared Allen after seeing the deals signed by the league’s best pass rushers. But Merriman has to reestablish his reputation as the AFC’s most feared pass rusher before he gets comparable money.

 

In his first three years, Merriman totaled 39.5 sacks and earned three Pro Bowl selections. But he missed all but the season opener in 2008 and nagging injuries last year slashed his production down to just four sacks. Merriman considers himself healthy heading into 2010 and he will be motivated. If he recaptures his dominant play, $3.27 million for the year would be a bargain.

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Market Value Set for Mankins posted by Randolph Charlotin

If your jaw dropped five feet from the amount of Jahri Evans’ new contract, understand a smile of equal distance stretched across the face of Logan Mankins’ agent Frank Bauer.

 

In case you missed it, before the Lawrence Taylor arrest and JaMarcus Russell’s release (talk about polar opposite stories – Taylor goes to a New York prison while Russell gets out of Oakland, which replicates the depressing hopelessness found behind bars), the Saints agreed to pay Evans $56.7 million over seven years, the biggest contract in NFL history for a guard.

 

Mankins, meanwhile, remains far away from the Patriots organized team activities (OTA), working on his ranch as he waits in limbo as a restricted free agent. New England gave Mankins the highest tender, meaning any team that signed Logan to an offer sheet would have to give away a first and third round pick to the Pats for Mankins. It’s a price teams were unwilling to pay.

 

Sitting down at the bargaining table with the Pats hasn’t happened either, as communication between the two sides has been practically non-existent. But maybe Evans’ contract is the spark needed to get Mankins and the Pats talking.

 

Back in February, New England slapped the franchise tag on NT Vince Wilfork. Though disappointed, Wilfork accepted it as long as it was part of the process towards reaching a new agreement.

 

I don’t know how many exchanges were made between the Patriots and Wilfork’s people, but after Pittsburgh agreed with NT Casey Hampton on a three-year $21.3 million contract on February 25th, Wilfork and the Patriots reached a five-year deal worth up to $40 million on March 8.

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Steps Behind posted by Randolph Charlotin

Because I’ve been immersed in my mock draft and inspired to write a few articles, I haven’t posted for a while. During this time, a lot of news regarding the Patriots crossed the news wire. I should had said a little something about every bit of news, but I was distracted.

 

But like a cornerback with 4.2 speed, watch me quickly make up lost ground:

 

At some point, TE Chris Baker signed with Seattle. I completely missed it. But his replacement, Alge Crumpler, already signed on the dotted line. Best of luck, Baker. Now the Pats need a receiving TE.

 

After heaping effusive praise on Florida QB Tim Tebow, Bill Belichick was seen eating dinner with Tebow in Boston. Don’t read too much into it. I don’t want Tebow unless he becomes a Hall of Fame tight end or consistently pressure the quarterback as a rush linebacker. QB Brian Hoyer was good enough to be the sole back-up to Tom Brady as a rookie. If Hoyer takes the next step in his development, Tebow will be an afterthought.

 

What should be news is that New England watched Northwestern DE Corey Wootton work out. The verdict: he’s not athletic enough to switch to OLB. Clearly the Patriots are finally taking the need for an OLB seriously.

 

The NFL released the preseason schedule, and the Patriots play four NFC teams: New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Louis, and the New York Giants. And that means absolutely nothing. It’s not a revenge game against the Saints. Beating the Giants won’t change the result of Super Bowl XLII. All we’ll get is some good looks at the rookies and guys cleared to play after rehabbing from injury. I’ll be looking particularly at OLB Shawn Crable, WR Brandon Tate, and ILB Tyrone McKenzie.

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Let's Go (Free Agent) Shopping! posted by Amari Harris

Shopping for free agents in the NFL is not much different from shopping for groceries at the grocery store.  You must make your grocery list based on what you need, while keeping an eye out for great deals.  You want to avoid overpaying for something that you either don’t need or won’t be satisfied with.  You need to keep you eye out for dropping prices.  It is also essential that you stay away from flawed products that have disappointed in the past.  These are all keys to being a smart shopper in the NFL free agent market. 

 

So who in the league is getting the best bargains, and who is pulling a “Dan Snyder” and just buying  the shiniest new toy?  Well, that is a much more difficult question in the 2010 off-season than it has been in the past.  Even Dan Snyder has reeled it in a bit, and hired some expert shoppers in Bruce Allen and Mike Shannahan.  Despite speculation that an uncapped season would bring on a spending frenzy the likes we have never seen, NFL ball clubs are actually being more cautious with their financial decisions. 

 

The uncapped year has seen several teams cut high priced veterans to accelerate the guaranteed portions of their contracts to this year, so they are not as limited in their ability to sign players the following year.  Teams are also putting their guys on “lay away” by putting restricted free agent (RFA) tenders on any of their players whose contracts are up and have less than 6 accrued years in the NFL.  These tenders mean that teams have ultimate leverage because if another team wants to sign that player then they would have to give up a draft pick, and the tendering team doesn't feel the pressure to sign that player to a long term contract.  So you can essentially have that player play for half a season or a even a full season before you decide to pony up the rest of the money for your RFA (hence, lay away).  Either way, it seems that most NFL teams are saying and doing all the right things to improve their teams at this juncture.  Still, there have been some good moves and some bad moves, and now that the first week of free agency is coming to a close it is time to evaluate what the GMs and owners are doing.

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In the NFL, who is this year's ... (SportingNews.com)

While the Green Bay Packers try to do their best New Orleans Saints impersonation, here are six more potential doppelgangers to watch: ... Miles Austin? Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh Steelers. Now a starter, he has the hands, speed and big-play ability to have a Pro Bowl breakthrough in his second year. "With Hines Ward working the other side, he steps into the role that Santonio Holmes had, stretching the field as a deep threat," former Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Brees' drive appears undiminished by accolades (The Canadian Press)

METAIRIE, La. - Drew Brees stood alone on the goal line, reflecting on everything that went wrong in practice. Then he took off, running the length of the New Orleans Saints' practice field several times over. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Brees leads Saints past Chargers

The New Orleans Saints may have plucked another exciting youngrunning back from the ranks of the undrafted. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NFL

Sidney Rice surgery thins Vikings' receiver depth (SportingNews.com)

Pro Bowl wide receiver Sidney Rice of the Minnesota Vikings had hip surgery Tuesday in a move that's expected to sideline him during a critical eight-game stretch that includes the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. Considering the day-to-day uncertainty of No. 2 wideout Percy Harvin (migraines) and the lack of depth even with the signing of Javon Walker, it's not a stretch to say the Vikings are in danger of losing their two-year grip on the NFC North even before the season-opening... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Texans, Saints hold joint practice (The Canadian Press)

METAIRIE, La. - The third consecutive year of joint pre-season practices between the New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans began without the fights that popped up all over the field last season. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports