FanHouse Scott Shanle

It's August, meaning we all think our favorite teams are Super Bowl contenders. Some teams get more championship hype than others, however. In this series, we look at those fawned-over franchises and their potential flaws and advise: Don't Believe the Hype.

Saints fans are no strangers to preseason hype; it seems the only year this decade the team wasn't predicted to be a contender was in 2006, when they of course went 10-6 and made the NFC championship game. This offseason is no different. Jon Gruden thinks they've got a real shot at the big game. And he's not alone.

The team significantly improved its defense via personnel and the hiring of coordinator Gregg Williams, and the offense remains intact (and might actually be improved if Robert Meachem makes the jump to every-down receiver, as has been discussed). If the defense can improve, the team should be dangerous. But alas, there are issues ...

Perhaps the Saints should stop looking at damaged goods to fix their weakside linebacker position?

In 2006, they brought in Anthony Simmons, a former Pro Bowler, to play there. It didn't matter that Simmons missed most of '04 and all of '05 with injury; he was supposedly healthy and low-risk/high-reward. He retired before his first game as a Saint ever came.

In '08, they brought in Dan Morgan, a former Pro Bowler. It didn't matter that Morgan had a list of concussions that would make Steve Young commiserate, as well as a partially torn Achilles tendon, the collaborative effects of which forced him to miss almost all of '06 and '07. He was supposedly healthy and low-risk/high-reward. He retired before his first game as a Saint ever came.

Morgan then unretired earlier this year and claimed that the Saints, who still had his rights, were getting a healthy and motivated player. On Monday, he retired. Again.