We Shoulda Kept Brees

[THORjr.]

Originally Posted by charger1_sj

I hate to go back to this argument yet again but it needs to be stated.

The mistake was not made after Brees got injured. After the injury there was no way but to do what AJ did.

The mistake and there were two of them were:

1. Drafting PR without giving Brees the chance to develop. In other words we gave up too soon on the guy.

2. Should have traded Brees after the 2004 season as his value was at it's peak and we had already drafted a Qb in the 1st round meaning the decision about the Qb position was already made. Should have stuck to our guns.

Instead we did nothing and faith intervened.

great post. Although I still think we could have done better after the injury.
I also thought, as unpopular as the idea might be, that we should have moved turner into the no 1 running slot, and traded LT while his value was high. He didnt have that many more productive years after 2006.
Everytime I saw Turner run, he was awesome. I pointed that out to my son. Dont get me wrong, I loved LT when he was here, its just, thats football.

[SuperBowlBolts]

Originally Posted by THORjr.

great post. Although I still think we could have done better after the injury.
I also thought, as unpopular as the idea might be, that we should have moved turner into the no 1 running slot, and traded LT while his value was high. He didnt have that many more productive years after 2006.
Everytime I saw Turner run, he was awesome. I pointed that out to my son. Dont get me wrong, I loved LT when he was here, its just, thats football.

...how do you trade the a guy coming off an MVP season? I think thats pretty unheard of.

[marion butts]

Originally Posted by THORjr.

great post. Although I still think we could have done better after the injury.
I also thought, as unpopular as the idea might be, that we should have moved turner into the no 1 running slot, and traded LT while his value was high. He didnt have that many more productive years after 2006.
Everytime I saw Turner run, he was awesome. I pointed that out to my son. Dont get me wrong, I loved LT when he was here, its just, thats football.

we shouldve traded brees after 2004

we shouldve traded turner after 2006

we shouldve signed sproles after 2008 to a 3 or 4 year deal

we shouldve signed VJ to at the very least a 1 year deal in 2010 to prevent his holdout or trade him to minnesota that same year.

AJ goofed on all 4 of these big names.

[dorotheajn]

Originally Posted by THORjr.

This is so funny. Your arguing a point that time has proven was wrong.
We all have seen it over and over, serious injury to a great player, someone takes a chance on him, he suceeds. Yea, it was a chance, but so are first rounders.

And again, AFTER the surgery and during rehab, he showed full range of motion.
Im not saying AJ should have signed him before the surgery, but afterwards it was going very well, thats when he should have signed him.

Hell, I remember how I felt when he went to NO, we had just spent years trying to find a good QB, and now we are going to go back to that. Who knew if Rivers would work out, remember Cryin Ryan?

I mean it wasnt guaranteed Brees would still be able to play QB, but at that time, I felt we should have kept him and odds were he would still be good.

I'm a Saints( & chargers fan) and were thrilled when he was signed by the Saints but - yes Saints took a major gamble on him. But Brees also took a major gamble on the Saints. The state of the organization gave the word rebuilding a totally new meaning. The city was a mess, the dome was damaged, the head coach and starting QB fired. The team had been playing in San Antonio and various college stadiums and didn't even have their own facilities the previous year.

Loomis, Saints GM, has been quoted as saying that by the time they signed Drew, Brees couldn't even lift his arm over his shoulder. What they really gambled on was his track record of turning adversity into success by hard work. Yes - Dr. Andrews told the team that it was a very bad injury - but he also said that if anyone could overcome THAT, it was Brees because of his workethics and determination and the fact that he had a better understanding of his mechanics than most QB's due to all the work he did to improve his throwing motion and footwork, after PR were drafted.

Chargers really didn't have enough time to evaluate Brees medically before they had to chose how much they would invest in him since Brees became a free agent before he was even able to throw a football. The team had a major investment in PR and while Chargers should have known what kind of person DB is, it was easier to "play it safe".

Saints were looking for a leader, for the team and for the city, and felt that they would get that with Brees. Time has proven them right. I hope for Charges sake that PR can work through the problems he is going through right now, so that one day these two teams will meet in a Superbowl. That would be a great game to watch !!!

[LongTimeOCBolts]

I gotta say I have to laugh that five weeks before we turn the page to 2013 this discussion is still being entertained. Can it not stop? Ever?

I get the frustration with Rivers. But while the threads about whether to bench him; whether to trade him; who's-coming-up-in-the-draft; is it his receivers' fault; will fixing o-line get him back on track; and will changing head coach get him back on track, are all timely and relevant (no matter your position), the subject of Brees is neither timely, nor relevant. Mostly it's just . . . . tired.

[Va Bolt]

Are you kidding me,
The only person to blame for the Brees situation in SD was MARTY!!!

Marty was the HC that had his starting QB playing in a pointless blowout game when he got hurt.

[Totally Bolted]

Originally Posted by marion butts

we shouldve traded brees after 2004

we shouldve traded turner after 2006

we shouldve signed sproles after 2008 to a 3 or 4 year deal

we shouldve signed VJ to at the very least a 1 year deal in 2010 to prevent his holdout or trade him to minnesota that same year.

AJ goofed on all 4 of these big names.

VJ wanted a long term deal. He wouldn't of signed anything less IMO. Plus it was an uncaped year yes? Big risk in signing someone long term without knowning where the CBA would go.

[marion butts]

Originally Posted by Totally Bolted

VJ wanted a long term deal. He wouldn't of signed anything less IMO. Plus it was an uncaped year yes? Big risk in signing someone long term without knowning where the CBA would go.

i dont think this is accurate, i think VJ was open to negotiation...i cant find a link but im pretty sure it was reported he would take a 1 year $6 million deal. And if AJ didnt want to do that, then trade him to minny for whatever they were offering. (2nd and 3rd i believe?)

[DGINSD]

Originally Posted by kiwibolt

I brought up the HGH because too many fans only remember Harrison winning SB's with New England, but Harrison was bad his last season and a half here. It's pertinent, because a lot of the people who want use Harrison's words are the same ones saying the organization 'runs off good players'. Harrison wasn't good his last couple seasons here.

And- to put it out there- the Chargers need some work right now and I'm fully behind replacing AJ and Norv at this point.

That being said- the revisionist history from people with an axe to grind is garbage. Harrison was bad at the end in SD- Same with Seau. LT was clearly in decline. People like to talk about Marty as if his teams never laid eggs and always performed.... yeah right. Go back to the forum archives and pull up threads from when Marty was coaching. Holy smokes, people wanted Marty's head on a platter too. Now the, 'we should have kept Brees' threads- I bet 2/3rds of those people don't remember Brees being benched in favor of Flutie and don't realize why the organization used a 1st round pick on a QB. It's cause Brees was terrible for long stretches when he was here + the shoulder injury that all but the Saints thought was probably the end of Brees.

I think AJ has mishandled a ton of draft picks and wasted money franchise tagging Sproles when he could have spent 1/2 as much to sign him long term. Same with VJ.... No GM is perfect and AJ's bad decisions have come back to haunt the team the last couple seasons.

I gotta laugh at those saying Brees should have been kept, Brees was downright awful when he was here, people do tend to forget that, couple that with the shredded shoulder and he's an easy guy to let go. The only problem I have with it is telling the guy his job is secure and then doing it.

There are however other mistakes that have been made and which have led to even more mistakes which have then led to us being in desparate situations and being forced into making desperate decisions. Mistakes causing further mistakes, this has been allowed to the point we're at now, without the owner stepping in to put a stop to it. I realize Deans not a "football" guy but he watches the games same as us, and he sees the same dysfunction we do on the field. He even has the ability to poke his head in the facility to gain further insight, yet the team is allowed to deteriorate to this point we're at now. This is why what Roddney had to say holds water to me.

[THORjr.]

Originally Posted by SuperBowlBolts

...how do you trade the a guy coming off an MVP season? I think thats pretty unheard of.

Yea, maybe wait one season.

I know Frank Robinson was traded in the middle of his career and he was an MVP and hall of famer, dont know how it turned out for the other team, but thats how he got to Balitimore.

Many great players have been traded, Kareem, Rod Carew...

Im just saying at the time I thought it was a good idea, and turns out it would have been, but also very unpopular at the time, but if you bring a super bowl, all those things are forgotten.

As for details, I dont know.