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With all the stuff going on in Saintsland these days, it's good for the front office to remember that there's an actual offseason to deal with from a personnel perspective, as well. And after placing the exclusive-rights franchise tag on quarterback Drew Brees (a designation Brees isn't happy with at all), general manager Mickey Loomis and head coach Sean Payton now have to alternate between team-building and damage control on a few levels.
Their first move? According to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer, it will be to give receiver Randy Moss a tryout on Tuesday. Since Brees is in the wind right now, the Saints are bringing in former Louisville/Green Bay Packers/Buffalo Bills/Las Vegas Locomotives (no, really) quarterback Brian Brohm to throw to Moss, so that the Saints can see if he has anything left in the tank. They have to do something, as the financial burden put on the team by the Brees "strategy" could have them losing free-agent receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem to other teams this offseason.
Whether this is a personnel Band-Aid, or an attempt to draw attention away from other aspects of the franchise, not much should be expected. Moss' fall from excellence has been dramatic, as it generally is for speed players in any sport. He led the NFL in receiving touchdowns with the New England Patriots in 2009, but even then, it was clear that he wasn't able to beat the double-teams he used to fly past.
In 2010, Moss played for three teams -- the Patriots, the Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans -- and caught just 28 passes for 393 yards and five touchdowns in total. He didn't play in 2011. The Saints reportedly brought Moss in as a "player of interest" last September, though the team denied doing so.
"There is absolutely no truth to it," Loomis told ESPN's Adam Schefter about the WWL-TV report. "It's a made-up story, irresponsible reporting. There's zero to it."
How hilarious it is to see Loomis talk about responsibility in retrospect aside, the Moss tryout should be of serious interest to Saints fans for a number of reasons. If they go hard after a guy whose best days are well past him, it's a pretty good sign that they don't believe in their abilities to retain Colston and Meacham. And though New Orleans' offense has been extremely receiver-friendly in recent years ... when you have a quarterback allegedly on the outs with the front office and left guard Carl Nicks with one foot out the door, it's not a good thing.
