SAINTS TRADE FOR TE JEREMY SHOCKEY

We talked about the possibility of this happening when we covered the 2008 draft, and how on the draft’s first day the Saints offered the Giants our 2nd and 5th round picks in one last effort so snag TE Jeremy Shockey, the Pro Bowl player who’d become expendable after he broke his leg late in the season and New York won the Super Bowl without him. The Giants finally accepted the same deal on July 21st, and Shockey became a Saint.

To be as blunt as possible, I love this trade. Coach Sean Payton was the Giants’ offensive coordinator when New York drafted Shockey in 2002’s first round, so he knows what he’s getting with the embattled TE. Payton was also with the Dallas Cowboys when they selected another Pro Bowler in Jason Witten.

The day after the Saints acquired Shockey, Times-Picayune columnist Peter Finney wrote an article that basically blasted the trade, questioning how much better Shockey could make the Saints’ offense, which was already clearly near the top of the league, and stating that the team made the trade at the cost of defense (the title of the column was “Saints Bolster Offense at Defense’s Expense,” after all). He noted the Saints’ deficiencies at cornerback (already covered here and everywhere else), a soft rush defense and how the Saints’ defense “cannot get enough help across the board.”

Well, I’ll tell you why Jeremy Shockey will make the Saints defense better. (more…)

Fox Sports broke the news earlier today, and WWL’s Juan Kincaid confirmed it this afternoon, that the Saints have traded their 2009 picks in the 2nd and 5th rounds of the draft to the New York Giants for tight end Jeremy Shockey. The disgruntled TE became expendable for the Giants when their 2007 5th round pick, Kevin Boss, emerged after Shockey broke his leg in December. Shockey was put off when the team didn’t allow him on their sideline during their Super Bowl win in February, and had made it clear that he wanted a trade to New Orleans, where he could be reunited with former offensive coordinator Sean Payton, who coached with the Giants in Shockey’s 2002 rookie season.

Our early take on this trade? It makes the Saints offense, already one of the best in the league, even better by adding a tight end who can both consistently catch the ball and efficently block for the run–qualities the Saints did have already, albeit in different players (Eric Johnson has the potential to be a game-breaking pass catcher, Billy Miller has flashed receiving ability in big spots and Mark Campbell is the run-blocker the Saints sorely missed after he was hurt in ‘07). The Saints now have a starting-quality tight end that can play all four downs instead of substituting TEs in and perhaps giving away the next play. We haven’t had a TE this dynamic since Wesley Walls.

Now, the question is, “How many Shockey jerseys will be in the Superdome on opening day?”

TRAINING CAMP BATTLES TO WATCH OUT FOR

One of the good things about being a year removed from a conference championship appearance and having re-signed or extended most of your notable free agents from that squad is that you have few notable positional battles. When the Saints convene for Training Camp ’08 on July 24th, their biggest offseason additions will step into pre-defined roles: MLB Jonathan Vilma immediately becomes the starting middle linebacker on the Saints’ defense and DE Bobby McCray is penned into the rotation at defense end. The Saints do have some questions at big-time positions like wide receiver and cornerback, so we’ll take a look at the players vying for starting roles, and perhaps roster spots.

Wide Receivers: Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Terrance Copper, David Patten, Robert Meachem, Adrian Arrington, Lance Moore, Skyler Green, Todd Blythe, Titus Ryan, Carlos Robinson. Roster spots available: 6.

The Saints carried six receivers in ’07, and with them all returning in ’08 there’s no reason to think they’ll change that number, but a couple of the names may change. Colston’s a lock, and the questions begin with who’ll start opposite him. The team needs a reliable receiver to draw the double team away from Colston while stretching the field and not allowing defenses to stack the line against our running game.

After an ‘07 training camp in which everyone claimed his concentration problems were behind him, former second round pick Henderson suffered through yet another frustrating season of just as many drops and missed chances as breathtaking catches. He was re-signed to a one-year contract and this might be his last chance to catch on with the Saints. He’s a pretty good bet to make the roster, but can he prove consistent enough to start?

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