New Orleans Saints not shopping RB Pierre Thomas (1 Viewer)

[BigTex]

Published on June 22, 2011 by Eric Schmidt

It appears that the New Orleans Saints are not planning on shopping veteran RB Pierre Thomas, and that might actually be a good thing for the club. New Orleans aggressively moved back into the first-round of April’s draft and selected University of Alabama RB Mark Ingram but in many cases, there is learning curve for rookie running backs in the NFL.

New Orleans has several backs on their roster currently, Chris Ivory among them. There are still questions about whether or not RB Reggie Bush will return to the club, as Bush is slated to earn over $11 million in 2011 and is basically a role player in the Saints offense. There is always the possibility that New Orleans could develop Wayne State product, Joique Bell into a Bush-like role player as well.

Since the Saints were so aggressive in pursuing Ingram, there is no doubt that he will get every opportunity to carry the load for New Orleans will give him every opportunity to become the feature back in their explosive offense. However, New Orleans would be wise to keep Thomas and Ivory and perhaps another back or two around once the regular season starts. Last season, injuries decimated the Saints backfield and I believe that was the reason that their offense was not as efficient as it was in 2010.

Thomas, who has never rushed for over 1,000 yards in a season and has been plagued with injuries during his career, can still be a very significant contributor to the Saints at a very affordable salary.

http://www.thepigskinreport.com/2011/06/new-orleans-saints-not-shopping-rb-pierre-thomas-and-that-might-be-a-good-thing/

 

[Jeff Tefertiller]

With all teams smelling free agency (and trades) on the near horizon, I am starting to look at the news like the month before the NFL Draft. Who knows how much is beat writer conjecture during a down time or misinformation put out by the teams to drum up a market.

 

[ThePittbully]

Yea I don't see how this is based on anything but speculation

 

[Couch Potato]

Pierre Thomas is not going to be traded. This team is looking to win now and he will be a valuable part of that.

1. His trade value would be minor. He has never been durable, he'll be 27 in December, wasn't considered a stud coming into the league, and except for a few small stretches here and there hasn't dominated.

2. This team is a contender and unloading the game value Thomas offers for a pick would be foolish. He is more valuable to the Saints as RB2 than the late round pick they could get for him. He provides valuable insurance for Ingram in case of injury, will take 100-200 touches to help keep Ingram strong when it matters late in the year, and his contract is very affordable. As much as they'd like to make Ingram their bell cow, they need to give him legit help and would be unwise to assume a rookie can handle 350-400 touches and be strong come playoff time. Rookies especially often hit the wall if overused. Ivory's early season status is in question (lisfranc) and has fumblitis. Bush's status is way up in the air and he's a lot less effective as a runner than receiver anyway. The rest of the RBs they've rostered recently are relative unknowns or journeymen. They need the PT Cruiser a lot more this year than they need a late round pick in the future.

 

[ThePittbully]

I also don't think he'll be traded, but I think I've got just as much inside information on that as whoever wrote this article

 

[massraider]

I also don't think he'll be traded, but I think I've got just as much inside information on that as whoever wrote this article

Yes.Who is the 'pigskin report'?

 

[KellysHeroes]

PT is the back up now, well he'll see more carries than the usual back up but hes a back up; with Reggie's situation being what it is they need Thomas to hang around.