In the first regular season game of the Saints’ magical 2006 season, the Saints found a way to win in Cleveland against a very bad Browns team 19-14. The Browns team managed to keep it interesting as the Saints’ new offense was trying to learn how to play together. Marques Colston and Reggie Bush were rookies with prominent roles in the offense, and Drew Brees was in his first year as the Saints’ starting quarterback.
What I remember very clearly about that game was that Kellen Winslow Jr., the butt of many football related jokes I made that summer, looked scary good. The “solja” who tore his ACL poppin’ wheelies in a parking lot on his moped managed to come off the injury to post a solid 8 catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. As much as I disliked his personality based on the few times I saw a microphone shoved in his face, that was the day I recognized that the kid has game. His career since that day has taken off and he’s become one of the biggest receiving threats in the game at his position.
Today, Winslow signed the largest contract for a tight end in NFL history with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Of course, of the 6 years he signed on for and the $42.1 million he could make, probably only half of it will become a reality. That said, we as Saints fans will now have to deal with this guy twice a year, and that is not something we should take lightly. What concerns me most is how bad our pass defense has been in years past. For our sake, let’s hope that Dan Morgan comes in healthy, and lays a hard hat on Winslow.
All that said, I’m glad the Bucs spent all that money on this guy with, ahem, impeccable character. Better them than us, because they’ll be stuck with the cap hit when he goes all T.O. on them. Until then, better find a guy that can cover him!
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