FanHouse KevinKaesviharn

As he heads into his 13th season, Darren Sharper knows that he doesn't have many years left in his NFL career. He's not as much of a playmaker as he used to be, and the Vikings were OK with letting him go. But he probably has enough left to give the Saints secondary a big boost in 2009.

The Saints offense was one of the best in the league in 2008, thanks to Drew Brees. The defense was one of the worst in the league thanks in part to safeties Kevin Kaesviharn and Josh Bullocks. Even in the twilight of his career, Sharper should give the Saints a much steadier center fielder who has always had a knack for making big plays--he leads all active players with 54 interceptions.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

Gregg Williams hasn't informed a free agent decision for New Orleans yet, hasn't hand-picked the inevitable defensive playmaker the Saints choose with their 14th-overall selection this year, hasn't installed a single scheme in a minicamp. Yet Williams' reputation has preceded him to the Crescent City, and his hiring as defensive coordinator is already considered one of the most important moves in team history.

After almost two decades of guaranteed defensive putridity, the last three of which have revolved around Gary Gibbs' lack of talent identification and bland scheming, the idea of Williams and his history of intelligent, hard-working, active, complex defenses coming to the Superdome is music to the ears. It also might finally push the Saints over the top.

Bengals QB Carson Palmer is questionable with a broken nose. His nose was broken on a hit that caused blood to gush all over his face and uniform.

On a Saints blitz, safety Kevin Kaesviharn hit Palmer and knocked him to the ground. Palmer stayed in on the next play ... but then left once blood started gushing out of his nose.

He has a small crack in his nose which took doctors ten minutes to put back in place (I know ... it's nasty!).

Palmer is questionable for Thursday night's preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts. I'd doubt he'd play since ... well ... no one else on that Bengals offense is healthy enough to play either. Why get him killed?

Palmer is expected to be ready for the Bengals season opener against the Baltimore Ravens on September 7th.

Okay, that isn't an entirely true statement. The Bengals offense did stink ... but it didn't make Carson Palmer's nose bleed. Former Bengal and current New Orleans Saint Kevin Kaesviharn did that.

Kaesviharn blitzed Palmer, knocking him down. A play later, Palmer went to the sideline with blood running from his nose and a nasty cut on his lip.

Why the heck not? After all, Chad Johnson was injured last week ... while Rudi Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh have kept their streak of not playing preseason games. Antonio Chatman and Glen Holt were the starting receivers (the popular Chris Henry was in a t-shirt on the sidelines ... more on that later).

The offense was bad before Carson got hurt ... gaining a pitiful 165 yards all game. Remember, this was one of the NFL's best offenses over the past few years.

Today, they scored zero points. They had the ball for 11 possessions. They punted on the first ten of them. On their final possession, back-back-backup Jordan Palmer threw an interception.

Yep, that kind of night.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

1. Defensive Tackle/Linebacker/Cornerback. I know this reeks of a cop-out, and I guess you're right. But every time I think that the Saints need one of these positions over the others, I change my mind. On one hand you've got defensive tackle, where Hollis Thomas, the only true nose tackle, is 34 and playing year-to-year. He's consistent against the run and pass, but can't play a full game anymore. The rest of the tackles are just adequate, and starting 3-tech Brian Young's a free agent who probably won't be back. Then there's linebacker, which features just two players, because middle linebacker Mark Simoneau has no impact whatsoever. Scott Shanle ain't no prize, neither. Finally, there's cornerback. The crew, outside of Mike McKenzie, is terrible (admittedly, with faint hints of promise). And McKenzie's torn ACL should keep him out until October at earliest. So you decide which is worse off.

I don't expect the Saints to go after any of the marquee free agents at these positions, but I wouldn't be surprised to see under-the-radar signings like Corey Williams or Drayton Florence. Most of the improvement will come in the draft. I'm all for Sedrick Ellis in the first, even if the Saints have to move up a few spots from 10 to get him. This is a deep draft for linebackers, which is helpful, and good young corners like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will be available after the first round.

Yet again, it seemed as if a late fumble could disrupt a Saints win. After blowing a game against the Bucs, this week it was David Patten, catching a pass and racking up the YAC, all the while holding the ball so precariously you'd think he was presenting it on a platter. Of course, it was knocked out in Arizona territory and recovered by the Cardinals, and a chance to take a two-score lead with nine minutes left was squandered.

Luckily, Kurt Warner is no Luke McCown (I know, Kurt -- the truth hurts), and the Cards promptly three-and-outed it for good, punting away the ball and their season. Starting at their own four, the Saints picked up four first downs, enough (thanks to some poor timeout management by Arizona) to run out the clock. That botched final series, a critical one, was just one of a number of instances where the Cardinals could have taken control of the game but failed to.

Not that the Saints didn't earn the win; they played incredibly well and balanced (30 passes, 29 runs) on offense, got pressure on Warner, forced turnovers, and played well in the secondary. But the difference in the final score would have been more than compensated for if the Cardinals didn't take a handful of shots at their own foot.

The Saints have finally got some momentum, having won three in a row. They look to be close to the form they displayed last year. Meanwhile, the Jaguars are starting Quinn Gray, allowing New Orleans to stack against the run. It'd seem that the Saints, playing at home, have the advantage here. But the Jaguars are from the AFC, which has served as the Saints' achilles heel. In the Sean Payton era, New Orleans has gone 1-5 against the superior conference. Here are the ugly particulars:

September 10th, 2006: Saints 19, Browns 16
Payton's first game is a victory, but it's a hard-earned one over a team that went 4-12. The Saints only managed one touchdown -- the first strike from Drew Brees to Marques Colston -- and had to rely on a Josh Bullocks interception with the Browns driving late to save the victory.

October 29th, 2006: Ravens 35, Saints 22
This one was not nearly as close as the score might indicate. Brees threw three interceptions and, in a sign of desperation in both play-calling and execution, Reggie Bush also threw a pick in the endzone attempting a halfback pass. They also lost a fumble. Two garbage time touchdowns to Colston made the score respectable, but the Ravens were able to sit back on the 35-7 lead they brought into the fourth quarter.

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.