I am one of the biggest advocates of the theory that ‘tanking’ generally accomplishes nothing and more often than not it is more of a detriment to the team than a benefit. I still fully adhere to that ideology, and I believe that the Saints do as well. However, that doesn’t mean that you deny reality or take foolish risks. Not resting Terron Armstead for the rest of the season would be a risk, jeopardizing your future for a willow wisp of a chance at the playoffs would be both foolish and reckless. The Saints are neither, and Kenny Vacarro as their second best defensive player (a dubious honor to be sure) can’t afford to jeopardize the future for four more meaningless games.
Vacarro has already proven himself to be an upper tier defensive player this season as he’s consistently been a playmaker and a true positive for a defense that has struggled to find such players in recent years. The Saints have already picked up his 5th year option meaning there is really nothing for him to gain over these final 4 games, and plenty for him to lose. Outside of the obvious risk of injury, which is something that every player deals with every time they suit up, Vacarro has been fighting a 4 game suspension for a failed drug test (the reports say it is Adderol, but that’s the generic answer we always get so who knows) and he has apparently chosen to forego his contestation of those charges and is taking his 4 game suspension now. This is a great example of Vacarro taking a long term view of things.
Kenny could probably fight it all the way throughout the season, and MAYBE the Saints have a miracle happen and they make the playoffs, but there is no way this team is making the superbowl. The Saints of 2017 are almost guaranteed to be a better team than this year’s unit, and there is a REAL chance that next year’s team can make some noise with even just a few things breaking their way. Vacarro fighting it this year could put that effort in jeopardy. To me it’s that simple.
I fully expect to see Terron Armstead moved to IR within the next week which would complete the Saints making the RIGHT decisions for the future. This is not tanking, which is losing on purpose in order to get a better pick. Tanking hurts the development of your best players, doesn’t guarantee success, and often results in a cyclical process that leaves the team floundering in a constant state of rebuilding. The team’s number one priority should ALWAYS be winning, always. Vacarro taking his suspension and Armstead going to IR aren’t moves of losing intentionally, benching Drew would be. Intentionally calling bad plays or starting sub par players to lose on purpose would be, and those are foolish. Play the young kids, see what they have, but do not ever try to lose. The Saints don’t seem to be making that mistake, but so far seem to be taking the future into account (pending the hopeful move to IR for armstead).
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