FanHouse KendrickClancy

I say this not because the Saints, or Hollis Thomas, have indicated it. I say this not because I hope it's the case. I say it only because I believe it to be true -- the torn triceps that will sideline Thomas for two months will ultimately cost him his career.

The injury, which was "scooped" by a poster at Saints Report (take that, MSM!), is expected to keep Thomas out for the first six games of the season. And that's counting on a perfect recovery. But even if Thomas winds up recovering on schedule, he's going to eat a roster spot that the team may not afford to lose. If the team decides they need the spot, they'll probably put Thomas on the IR and end his season. At 34 years old and 335 lbs., with snaps declining annually, this could eventually serve as Thomas' going-away campaign.

Thomas was expected to back up Sedrick Ellis at nose tackle, but his role in the team's line rotation was still important. Add in the fact that he's had a great camp -- meeting his weight requirements for the first time in three years as a Saint, looking more mobile -- and the injury will hurt the Saints. Thomas has been a solid contributor and is well-liked in the locker room for his jovial nature (yes, he is wearing a Spongebob get-up in that picture; no, I have no idea why).

The onus now falls on Ellis and Kendrick Clancy to fill the void, for this season and perhaps beyond.

For the first time in weeks, the Saints should have all of their starters in place this Sunday against Tampa. The final piece in that puzzle, Brian "Don't Call Me Bryant" Young, is expected to return this week.

Young has missed the last four weeks with a knee injury, and the Saints pass rush has softened because of his absence. In his stead, the Saints have been rotating Kendrick Clancy, Antwan Lake, and McKinkley Boykin, all run-stuffers. Young's a 3-tech tackle who specializes in getting at the passer.

Young's replacements all contributed positively, but none of them bring the skills or high motor that Young has. Though the Saints' run defense and sack totals haven't really been damaged by Young's absence, the quarterback pressure hasn't been as persistent and consistent with him gone, because the team hasn't had the weaponry to risk blitzing and abandoning the secondary.

Last week's return of Charles Grant and now Young should get this defense back on track. Plus, this is a contract year for Young, and there's no better way for him to prove his worth than showing the contrast with and without him in the lineup.

That's the question a lot of pundits are asking today in trying to figure out how the Saints, preseason NFC favorites, are 0-2. But the magic they're referring to is that annoying, mythical "Katrina magic" that people invented last year. That's not what I'm referring to. Last year was based on a lot of really good personnel decisions, good coaching, and inspired play. We know that good coaching and inspired play have so far been nowhere to be found. But what of the personnel decisions?

Last year, the Saints had a magic touch shaping their roster. They got four starters in the draft (Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, Marques Colston, and Reggie Bush), six if you include draft-day trades for Jeff Faine and Hollis Thomas. They also made smart moves in free agency; besides Drew Brees, the team also got outsized contributions from Scott Shanle, Terrance Copper, and Scott Fujita. Almost every move they made turned to gold.

This year? Meh. Only four picks (Usama Young, Jermon Bushrod, Andy Alleman, and Robert Meachem) have made the team, all but Young have been deactivated for both games, and he only plays sparingly. Their dabble in free agency has been worse. Eric Johnson has been average at tight end, but at least he's doing something; it goes downhill from there. Kendrick Clancy won a starting job at defensive tackle but has been blah. Jason David's exploits are well documented. Kevin Kaesviharn has looked lost at nickel safety. And linebacker Brian Simmons can't beat out Mark Simoneau, who couldn't shed a block by Holly Mangold.

There's a lot of problems that need to be fixed with this team, and it's unfair to attack the new guys when so many of the holdovers have been so, so awful. Still, the Saints added a lot of players in the offseason, and counted on those players to improve the team. They haven't.

To get you ready for the season, FanHouse is previewing all 32 NFL teams. Here's New Orleans' outlook.

2006 record: 10-6

2006 Offense: The #1 offense in the league. Drew Brees. Reggie Bush. Deuce McAllister. Marques Colston. Devery Henderson. All led by Sean Payton, who has proved to be one of the most innovative offensive coaches in the NFL after but one year. Yeah, it was pretty good.

2006 Defense: The Saints ran an unusual defense last year -- the break but don't bend variety (yes, you read that correctly). Their job primarily was just to get the ball back to the offense, either by forcing an early three-and-out or by quickly giving up the big score. And they succeeded one way or the other. They still finished with the 11th overall defense, but causing turnovers was a major problem.

2006 Special Teams: Between Lance Moore, Michael Lewis, and Bush, the team did well enough returning the ball. Kickoffs were a problem though, so much so that the team had to waste a roster spot on Billy Cundiff, a kickoff specialist who still couldn't boom touchbacks into the endzone. John Carney retained his accuracy, but lost even more distance on his field goals. From the blocked punt that sparked the Superdome reopening, to Bush's first NFL touchdown (a game-winning punt return against Tampa), this unit produced some of the most memorable plays of the season.

A lot of the Saints' success last year came from a massive overhaul of new blood and true competition; if you weren't Drew Brees, your job was up for grabs. The offense did well enough, and returned enough players, that the Saints were allowed to focus the majority of their free agent money on defense. All of last year's starters are back, as well, meaning competition has again been inspired. With training camp over and two preseason games left, there's still lots of room for movement.

Jason David - Rehashing Fred Thomas' 2006 troubles is just beating Barbaro, so I'll just say that Jason David, despite arriving in Indianapolis in the middle of the depth chart, didn't have much standing in the way of a starting job. So far, David has transitioned from the Cover 2 well. He excelled in camp and had a great game against the Bengals last Saturday. He has, officially, taken Thomas' spot in the starting lineup, meaning he'll be lining up against former teammate Marvin Harrison in the season opener.

Brian Simmons - As far as middle linebackers go, Mark Simoneau had trouble getting to and bringing down the ballcarrier last year, which is pretty much what a middle linebacker is counted on to do. So the Saints brought in former Bengal Brian Simmons, a frequent 100+-tackle guy. But Simmons has dealt with nagging injuries and didn't catch onto the playbook as quickly as some anticipated. In the meantime, the addition has lit a fire under Simoneau, whose had one of the best offseasons on the team. He's still the starter, and he's earned it so far, but Simmons will at least be a one- or two-down 'backer, if he doesn't supplant Simoneau entirely.

"The Saints lost!! OMG!!!"

That's about the predominant mood among Saints fans today. Though everyone says it's just the preseason, you could find reactionary threads on Saints message boards from overzealous fans imploring the team to release (insert anybody except Jason Fife here). And no, there wasn't much to be happy about last night. But this wasn't even a preseason game, it was a glorified exhibition. No need to worry.

There were even some bright spots. The aforementioned Jason Fife, the team's third quarterback, put together the best (and only scoring) drive, and could conceivably wrest the backup job from Jamie Martin. Will Smith, who put together four tackles and a sack in limited action, is going to have a huge year. Backup defensive end Willie Evans also looked good, and could crack the lineup as the fourth end. Meanwhile, Kendrick Clancy looked very good at defensive tackle, the Saints' weakest position last year.

Most of all, the team can now go back to training camp at Millsaps and Sean Payton can use this as an excuse to whip them into better shape. Payton said the team played sloppy (they did), and that a game is never truly meaningless (it isn't), but I'm sure he's not really worried about their performance. That won't stop him from making those two-a-days a little more intense, however.

With free agent options at defensive tackle, the Saints' only weak spot, slim, the team knew they had to act quickly on Kendrick Clancy, who was cut by the Cardinals earlier this week. Yesterday, the team inked the former Cardinal, Steeler, and Giant to a three-year deal worth $5.2 million.

He was supposed to go see some other teams, New England (Thursday) afternoon; Seattle, Oakland and Buffalo had expressed interest," said Clancy's agent, Ron Del Duca, based in Weston, Fla. "(The Saints) basically said they'd bring him in and let him compete for the starting D-line position."

Clancy plays the run-stuffing nose tackle position, so it's unlikely he'll unseat starter Hollis Thomas. But in the Saints defense, "starting" on the defensive line is really about who plays the first series. The team rotates defensive linemen, and Clancy will play a big part in that rotation.

Clancy's potential lies long-term. Thomas is not long for the Saints roster -- he's admittedly playing year-to-year at this point and many feel this will be his last -- so Clancy, still young at 28, ensures that the team isn't left in the dark should Thomas retire this year. Or if Thomas' "asthma" acts up again and the league decides to take action. The run defense suffered without Thomas in the lineup last year, and with depth thin, Clancy provides a nice insurance option.

With improvements to the defense's weakest two areas from last year -- defensive tackle and in the secondary -- the Saints look pretty complete across the board. I'm sure they'll monitor the cuts for further help in all areas of the defense, but they don't need to make any moves at this point. The defense doesn't need to play like the Ravens. As long as they improve on giving up the big play, which appears likely, Peter King might actually be right.

Although Kendrick Clancy was only released a couple of hours ago, the speculations of his new destination has already begun. The very first team to pop up? How about the team he played for in 2005; the New York Giants.

The Giants have been in an out of the defensive tackle market all offseason. While Fred Robbins and Barry Cofield are as secure as they're going to get, they are still looking for quality back-ups. They drafted Jay Alford and signed Marcus Bell but would probably feel much more comfortable with Clancy.

Clancy had a career year with the Giants but went on to struggle with injuries in Arizona. His value, especially after this release, has been driven into the ground and if the Giants can get him for the league minimum, there is no doubt in my mind that they'll do it.

As I mentioned earlier today, the Cardinals told guard Milford Brown and defensive end Kendrick Clancy that if they didn't take a pay cut, they would be released.

Well, neither took a pay cut and now both of them, at least for the time being, find themselves on the streets.

"We wanted them back," Coach Whisenhunt said. "What happened for me personally, I didn't want it to come to training camp where we had to make a decision on guys based on the money.

Also, I wanted if they didn't want to restructure, to give them a chance to go somewhere else."

Whisenhunt went on to add that the moves were "not salary cap driven." Um, wait ... not salary cap driven? This will be the first time I question Whisenhunt to date, but if they weren't salary cap driven, what were they? I suppose the Cardinals asked them to take less pay for the hell of it.

Either way, the Cardinals now save $2.35 million toward the cap and should be able to sign any and all of the rookies they want.

It's no secret that the Cardinals have been trying to cut costs recently and that guard Milford Brown and defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy are in their crosshairs. Instead of outright releasing the two, the Cardinals have given them an option: take a pay cut of hit free agency.

While Brown has not given any indication of his plans, Clancy and his agent have. They have flat out refused to accept a pay cut and the seven-year veteran expects to be released in the very near future.

"That's part of the business," Clancy's agent, Del Duca said. "I'm sure he'll have more than one team calling about his services. He played pretty well last year."

Clancy was due to make $1.5 million this coming season, which was a bit much for the Cardinals who are stocked full of questionable defensive tackle talent.

As for Brown, he was expected to make $2.5 million this season -- a ton of money for a reserve. If released, the Cardinals would save about $1.6 million for Brown and $750,00 for Clancy.