I remember hearing somebody's analysis of the Saints' money / contract situations and Stallworth was brought up in the convo. If I remember correctly, he'll be a FA next season and the person felt he might not be coming back. I can't remember if they wouldn't have the cap space, Stallworth would command too much money, they felt his play wouldn't support what they'd give him in a new contract, or they were just very impressed with Henderson. I don't know, but Stallworth was mentioned as a player who would cause some difficulties in the team's current structure and decision making. Sounded like a numbers thing, much like every team is in.
Donte' had a decent season last year and is talented. However, he's not turned out to be a top flight wideout yet. He entered the NFL as a guy with a very high ceiling but most of these guys, with exceptions of guys like Randy Moss, fall short of becoming.... well, Randy Moss(es). All in all, Stallworth is possibly going to be in a different uniform in 2007. Putting 2 and 2 together, maybe the Saints are looking to move him before he becomes a free agent. Payton may have analyzed all his film, if Pastabelly's rumor is true, or others, and concluded he wasn't going to be a core guy for him. With the dearth of talent currently avalable in the FA market and the upcoming draft, he would certainly be a marketable commodity. I imagine he's still under his rookie contract (with a smaller signing bonus than a vet contract ) and close to finishing it out so trading him might not cause a huge cap hit. It might be eaten up all this year, a year when the Saints are reloading so to speak. Perhaps the Saints are looking to go full bore starting next year in the "uncapped" year. Certainly, even the way Brees' contract is structured leaves them options if he turns out to be a flop and won't ruin 2007 and beyond. Could be what they're gunning for.
Comparing apples, you have two wideouts whom their respective teams might like to move, Rogers for obvious reasons and Stallworth because the Saints might want to get compensation for him now before he hits the FA market. If Stallworth were to light it up this year, I wouldn't want to have to outbid WR hungry teams in an uncapped year, especially when his career has been uneven so far. Could be a smart move by the Saints. There's also another choice. They could extend his deal now and hope that giving him the money early will save them
in the long run.
Of course the Saints would be doing the Lionesses a favor by making this trade because the current best way for Detroit to save face would be to cut Rogers. That would somewhat solve one problem, that of money for the team's payroll, although the cap hit from the signing bonus is there (although I don't know what the deal with that is with his suspension). To bring in a player, especially a young, good caliber receiver to go in Mad Mike's offense in this action, would be a stroke of genius. Somehow, I think Millen has too much of a donut brain for this to ever work out. Heck, even the casual fan, me, says it doesn't add up for the Saints so I doubt we see it happen unless there are other players / draft picks involved. Of course, Detroit might be willing to go so far
as to do this if they are sufficiently screwed by the black hole of Rogers contract.
All in all, this deal doesn't add up unless it's done for some reason similar to ones mentioned in the preceeding paragraph because the principles (Donte' & Charles) are so uneven.
Would like to see Stallworth playing in the Madman's passing O though!
(Stallworth owner in keeper league.)