ARTICLE: Steal of a deal (Shanle from Dallas)

[BouncingCheese]

So you are saying Shanle, Pozluzny(sp?), and Fujita would be a great LB corps? They don't strike any ounce of fear into me personally.

Don't underestimate the Pats LBs, they are very good, the key to that defense that won 3 super bowls in 4 years.

Bolded: Um, duh?:laugh2: I think the Saints lbs would fall somewhere in between.

Um duh! I never "underestimated the Pats Lb's." I said that THEY WERE THE MAIN REASON TEAMS COULDN'T RUSH ON THE TEAM.... read harder next time... much much harder :laugh2:

You don't necessarily need to strike fear into an opponent to be effective. The Saints defense was bend but don't break. Actually, NO's defense was statistically a better defense than the 'boys, so that argument about striking fear is porous, because what the **** does that matter? Was the defense effective? It was? oh okay.... Also since there are 32 OTHER teams in the league, NO's would just be considered out of the "great" range since they are ranked number 11 statistically.

DUH!

 

[TEK2000]

And he was very suspect in the goalline defense.



I put more stock in his play then than I do the meaningless season closer against a bad Rams team two years ago.

You're right. Fowler was in there on at least 1 of the Karney TD's vs the Saints. I'm not arguing that he was a great player or anything.

But he did play quite a good game against the Rams... whether you choose to acknowledge anyones good play or not.

 

[Billy Bullocks]

Shanle was a good player for us. But he didn't fit in numbers wise here. He was getting cut. He's better in the 4-3, I'd say both teams benefited

 

[BouncingCheese]

Shanle was a good player for us. But he didn't fit in numbers wise here. He was getting cut. He's better in the 4-3, I'd say both teams benefited

Agreed

 

[2233boys]

Honestly, I did not like it when we let him go.........

I honestly didn't care, still don't.

 

[AtlCB]

No way are they premier your absolutely right about that; but then again you don't exactly need the best players at the position to be the best or around that area. Look at the Pats Defense of a few years ago, they didn't have a single probowler in the Linebacking core (I mean maybe they were voted in, but that was because of fan notoriety and not really because they were the best at the pos.) yet they were the main reason teams could never get any rushing yards.

I think if the Saints got a player like Pozlulzny, a fast, smart, athletic player who doesn't recessarily need to be strong, they could have a great 4-3 lB core. The Saints can find a player who has those attributes, and I am sure teams have them; I mean, shoot the Saints found Fujita and Shanle

If you think about it, it isn't that hard to have a top-ten D if you think about it; Either you play well, you play terribly, or you are in between.

Huh???? Ted Bruschi made the pro bowl and deserved it. The Pats also had Willie McGinnest, Mike Vrabel, Ted Johnson, Rosevelt Colvin, Tully Banta-Cain, and Roman Phifer at linebacker. The Pats had some of the best linebackers in the league.

 

[AmishCowboy]

Shanle and Fujita are not 3-4 LBs. They are a lot like Dexter Coakley; quick and sharp and very good when not tied up by O linemen. 3-4 LBs have to be able to deal with O linemen. Simple as that. BOth of them would have been backups at best here. There they are good LBs. BUT do not let the hype fool you- they are not pro bowl level or even close. They are good but no more.

 

[jterrell]

Neither guy would make the Cowboy's roster in '07 IMHO. Fujita is too "stiff" off the edge and Shanle isn't athletic enough for the inside.

Huh??

Shanle is far more athletic than Bradie James... what he isn't, is big.

He probably would have been cut as we looked to the bigger linebackers.
I would have personally kept Shanle and cut Singleton and I have mentioned about 1000 times in 3 years but alas Singleton is now apparently out of the league and Shanle a starter elsewhere, so what did I know.....

Shanle was very solid in 05 outplaying Singleton when he filled in as an injury replacement, played too big and was poor overall in 06 and then played extremely well for the Saints in 07.

Fujita would have made the roster as Ellis' backup(over Singleton again) IMHO but we couldnt pay a backup what he made in NO. It would have been nice when Ellis went down tho

 

[WoodysGirl]

Fujita would have made the roster as Ellis' backup(over Singleton again) IMHO but we couldnt pay a backup what he made in NO. It would have been nice when Ellis went down tho

Singleton, as a backup last year, was paid 4 mil. Fujita made 1m last year with N.O.

Granted Fujita's overall contract was too much for a backup, but for last year? Not so much.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Funny, I've read even Saints fans say that Shanle was decent but nothing special, and hardly a "stalwart".

Fujita, on the other hand, they love.

 

[jterrell]

Singleton, as a backup last year, was paid 4 mil. Fujita made 1m last year with N.O.

Granted Fujita's overall contract was too much for a backup, but for last year? Not so much.

The issue was as a free agent we had to cough up a signing bonus and did not view him as a long term starter, NO did. Singleton was on his last year of the deal and our plan was to rent one of them. We rented the wrong one....

I wish we had offered Fujita the 6 mil it would have taken to keep him for one season ...in retrospect I do.

The whole deal was salary cap driven.

Fujita>Shanle>Fowler>Singleton.

We kept the worst two because they were already paid for essentially. It was all just depth and Jerry has never wanted to spend on linebackers.... BP got Akin and Carpenter/Ware was a pass rusher.... JJ was't gonna pay average LBs big money so we had less than average guys....

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I'm not sure we didn't want to keep Fujita -- I remember Parcells grousing that Payton and Fujita had the same agent, so they had the inside track and got a deal done before we even had a chance.

Parcells and Jimmy Sexton used to pull tricks like that all the time. He finally got a little of his own medicine.

 

[jterrell]

I'm not sure we didn't want to keep Fujita -- I remember Parcells grousing that Payton and Fujita had the same agent, so they had the inside track and got a deal done before we even had a chance.

Parcells and Jimmy Sexton used to pull tricks like that all the time. He finally got a little of his own medicine.

We had Fujita's rights and were offering him short deals prior to free agency. We didnt get it done and as almost always happens, when they hit free agency good luck signing them.

BP did wanna keep him obviously as he lamented his lack of backup to Ellis/Ware all year. But I don't think Jerry wanted to pay for what he considered a 1 or 2 year solution after drafting Carpenter in round 1.

BP woulda had 10 LBs all making 10 mil each if he could~ Thats the position he loves.

 

[burmafrd]

that and TEs. BP chewed Payton out about trying to grab guys (this is not done in the BP crew. Which is true- even BB has not done any of that). There is a unwritten rule in the NFL that you do not grab players with slick moves from fellow tree members.

 

[AtlCB]

We had Fujita's rights and were offering him short deals prior to free agency. We didnt get it done and as almost always happens, when they hit free agency good luck signing them.

BP did wanna keep him obviously as he lamented his lack of backup to Ellis/Ware all year. But I don't think Jerry wanted to pay for what he considered a 1 or 2 year solution after drafting Carpenter in round 1.

BP woulda had 10 LBs all making 10 mil each if he could~ Thats the position he loves.

Fujita was probably looking for some place where he could start. With Carpenter and Ellis on the team, he may have felt that his chances of starting were much better in New Orleans than Dallas.

 

[BouncingCheese]

Singleton is an URFA right now, correct?

If so, where is he going to go?

 

[Twyst]

Funny, I've read even Saints fans say that Shanle was decent but nothing special, and hardly a "stalwart".

Fujita, on the other hand, they love.

Thats my cfeeling on it as well. Hopefully the LB corps is better with this new MLB we have though

 

[Smirk]

For those of you talking about our (The Saints) MLB spot, we picked up Brian Simmons in FA from the Bengals to man the MLB. Mark Simoneau will be the backup at MLB and the backup to Shanle at WLB. Simmons is very competent and an upgrade both in run support and pass support over Simoneau.

While the likes of Shanle (WLB), Simmons (MLB), and Fujita (SLB) are not all-world, strike fear into the hearts of offenses type linebackers, they are all smart, competent guys who get the job done. I'm fine with that.

 

[Yeagermeister]

For those of you talking about our (The Saints) MLB spot, we picked up Brian Simmons in FA from the Bengals to man the MLB. Mark Simoneau will be the backup at MLB and the backup to Shanle at WLB. Simmons is very competent and an upgrade both in run support and pass support over Simoneau.

While the likes of Shanle (WLB), Simmons (MLB), and Fujita (SLB) are not all-world, strike fear into the hearts of offenses type linebackers, they are all smart, competent guys who get the job done. I'm fine with that.

Shanle is a decent LB but we had too many better lb's at the time. I'm glad he found a good home.