Jeremy Shockey Makes the Saints Dangerous

It has been a story that wouldn't go away. The Saints have been trying to land Giants TE Jeremy Shockey since before the NFL draft and now they have. According to multiple media outlets (first reported by Fox's Jay Glazer), the Saints have landed Shockey for 2nd and 5th round picks in next year's draft. The deal is pending league approval and a physical.

The Saints apparently have been consitent with their talk about acquiring Shockey. There have even been reports that the Saints tried to get involved in the Jason Taylor trade talks to help facilitate a 3-team deal, but that fell through when Taylor was dealt to the Redskins yesterday.

The Saints already had a very good No. 1 wide receiver in Marques Colston and the potential for a strong running game with Deuce McAllister, Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas. They also have one of the smartest quarterbacks in the league in Drew Brees.

With Shockey, they've tied everything together. New Orleans needed someone to take some of the attention away from Colston and Meachum. Defenses won't be able to roll the Cover Two on him because Shockey will sit down in the middle all day and take coverage away and cause matchup problems for safeties and linebackers.

The Saints, I believe, are definitely the cream of the crop in the NFC South. Their offense is about as well-rounded as they come and if their defense can stand up they could be an elite squad in the entire NFL. Let's just hope that Sean Payton learned a thing or two about dealing with Shockey when he was with the Giants because that's the main reason New York gave him away. They didn't want to deal with the Shockey distractions all season. If good guys like Drew Brees, Deuce McAllister and Scott Fujita can welcome him with open-arms and he becomes a part of this team and not a me-first guy, then this trade will work out great. If he comes in and complains about his contract, playing time or any number of other things, it could be a suckfest for the Saints.

Nevertheless the Saints are completely built to win now. My main concern with this trade comes with the 2009 draft. The Saints are built to win now but are they sacrificing the future with these deals? Next year's draft will be a lean one with 2nd and 5th rounders going to the Giants, a 6th rounder going to Green Bay (trade back in the 2008 draft for Adrian Arrington) and 3rd or 4th rounder is still tied to the Jonathan Vilma deal (depending on how things play out). So the Saints will possibly only have a 1st, 3rd/4th and 7th round picks in '09. That's only three selections, using the Washington Redskins draft strategy. Overall though I'm loving the deal for the Saints!