Saints Go Marching Out

This has been one wild offseason for the New Orleans Saints. They whipped up their own brand of March Madness this year. They released four of their defensive starters from their 2009 Super Bowl winning team, Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Roman Harper and Jabari Greer. There are no longer any defensive players left from that squad on the current roster (I don't have anyone to do research for me, but I believe that to be true.) They also released wide receiver Lance Moore, who made a fantastic catch on a two-point conversion in that Super Bowl victory. He had been with the Saints since 2006 and was one of their all-time best receivers. Then came rumors that they were going to release running backs Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas. It was then I started to regret my Saints tattoo again. Darren Sproles has been one of the most exciting players in the NFL for quite a few seasons now. He was personally recruited by quarterback Drew Brees to join the team after the departure of the beloved Reggie Bush.  Sproles was one of the most effective weapons in the Saints offense for the past three seasons. The thought of losing him and Thomas was not a pleasant one. Well, they ended up trading Sproles to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 5th round draft pick, which was better than just releasing him, although Mrs. Sproles would not agree with that as she so eloquently shared on social media.  Also, from the last 8 of the Saints 5th round draft picks, a good solid 5 or 6 of them turned out to be good NFL players. Rob Ninkovich of the New England Patriots happens to be one of them (the Saints didn't need him making big plays every weekend.) They did end up keeping Pierre Thomas which was good, partially because I love saying his nickname "PT Cruiser" every Sunday. Now that a couple of weeks have gone by, I am still pledging my faith to General Manager Mickey Loomis and coach Sean Payton that they have a master plan which will make them successful next season. I believe they are trying to make the team younger and stronger and faster in order to battle the top NFC teams like the current Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers, the Carolina Panthers and those sneaky Green Bay Packers. They have to go through all of this for a chance to meet next seasons winner of the Denver Broncos versus the New England Patriots in their inevitable meeting in the AFC Championship game. As they say in Cajun Country, "Geaux Saints!"