Will the StarCaps saga ever end? Jeff Duncan pointed my attention this morning to THIS ARTICLE via his twitter account. It sounds like the Saints’ top pass rusher and Pro Bowl defensive end Will Smith will miss the first four games of the 2010 season. That ruling affects Charles Grant, too, and since he’s a free agent it may make it tougher on him to find a new team. Deuce McAllister is also in the mix, but since he’s retired it’s a moot point. Since the NFL elected to postpone suspending Smith until this case ruling in Minnesota was resolved, it now looks like the suspension is inevitable barring appeal.
What’s frustrating about this is Smith was supposed to serve these 4 games in 2008. Then it was the beginning of the 2009 season. Now it’s next season. He’s still facing what I think is unfair punishment for something that is now dragging over 2 years. The good news is the Saints signed Jimmy Wilkerson and Alex Brown in the offseason, who are two proven veterans at the same position. Add Bobby McCray, Jeff Charleston and possibly Anthony Hargrove to the mix (Hargrove’s primary position is defensive tackle, but he can play end) and the Saints should be able to absorb the loss of Smith for four weeks. In fact, with the additions of Brown and Wilkerson, the Saints are arguably as deep as they’ve ever been at defensive end. Sure, they’ve lost Charles Grant, but his production since the signing of his absurd contract was unimpressive. And they’d be starring at a four game suspension for him too if he was still on the ball club. It makes you wonder if the Saints knew this was coming, and prepared accordingly. At this point I think I’m just hopeful Smith serves his suspension and gets this over with. It’s time to put StarCaps behind us.
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