Latest / AFR Saints / Saints Trade Deadline Plans, Gayle Benson’s Letter to Fans & Fixing the Run Game | Mike Triplett

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Saints Trade Deadline Plans, Gayle Benson’s Letter to Fans & Fixing the Run Game | Mike Triplett · AFR Saints

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: AFR On Demand is brought to you by Breck Golf.
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  Speaker 1: full round. Book your tee time today. Golf.breck.org. Golf.breck.org. Mike,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: how are you?
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm doing good. How are you?
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Man. Well, no, I'm doing good. I'm doing good. Hey,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: we'll talk some football stuff here in a second. When
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: you opened up the letter from Gail Benz, the open
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: letter to the Saints fans, what were you expecting that
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: to be?
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  Speaker 2: I heard some of the feedback before I saw the letter,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: so I don't know what I expected, but We were
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: talking about this on the show today. Nothing in that
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: letter surprises me. That's ownership speak. Owners have global thinking
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: that goes beyond just the state of the current team.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: And that's always been the case with Gail Benson. I
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: think our expectations changed because her comments two weeks ago
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: were so different. And I think it made everyone stand
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: up and perk up and think, oh, she, she's as
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: fed up as we are. We're going to see real change.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: And then we saw, you know, just another absolute, Oh,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: what's the right word? Uh, deflated balloon performance, uh, in,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: in Paris and, uh, and, and to not, you know, and, and,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: and to not see, uh, I don't know, major shakeup
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: after that and a business-as-usual type of letter. It's tough
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: coming off the heels of that game. It's been a
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: tough month. I didn't expect anyone to get fired this
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: week because I think that would have been true if
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: they had lost both those games after her comments. Back-to-back, Giants-Paris,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: they did win the Giants game, even though it came
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: with some asterisks. But when you add up the last month,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: I think the Atlanta, Minnesota, and Pittsburgh losses have been
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: three of the more disheartening losses in a long time,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: the way they lost those games. So it's tough right now.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: What about the game in Paris was your biggest takeaway?
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: I'm asking that open-ended because that'll lead me to my
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: next question.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Well, you probably know the answer, but to me, we've
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: been screaming from the rooftops the saints themselves have been
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: screaming from the rooftop since last year, fix the run game,
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: fix the run game, fix the run game. This offense
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: can't go anywhere. If it doesn't have a run game, your,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: your prize quarterback that you landed on is going to
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: be hung out to drive. You don't support him with
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: the run game, get everybody in the building focused on
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: fixing the run game, bring in David Edwards and Travis
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: HN to help fix the run game. Um, and the
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: fact that they just absolutely cannot fix the run game.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: And that game in particular, I had said this on
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: our show and a couple of times, I think that
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: is the worst individual rushing game I think I've ever
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: seen in an NFL game. I do not recall ever
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: seeing a worse rushing performance. So it's only getting worse,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: and it's paralyzing this team right now.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Did you see the statistic? I think it was... Maybe
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: ESPN stats research, maybe Cat posted it was the first
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: time since 1993 that the Saints didn't have a 10-yard rusher?
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, I can't believe it happened in 1993. It
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: was awful. They had, and if you're going to see
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: a stat like that, I definitely have seen other games
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: where a team is like only run the ball eight times.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: You know, maybe you run the ball eight times for
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: nine yards. Their running backs ran the ball 14 times
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: for 11 yards. It's impossible to be that bad at
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: running the ball. It's impossible. And, I mean, they had
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: a second and five at one point in this game,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: and then they ran the ball on second and five
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: and lost five yards. And it was third and ten.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: It's just, it's killing them. It's killing them. And that's
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: why I've been, and I know we have been, Nick
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: and I have been, and I'm sure everybody has been
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: particularly hard on Kellen Moore because I do understand the
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: concept of we all asked for this. We all said, hey,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: do a real rebuild. It could take time, but really
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: rebuild and do it in earnest and get the young
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: coach who's probably going to have to grow into the role.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: But we've got to see that he has answers for
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: some basic fundamental offensive problems. When some things in his wheelhouse,
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: like first quarter scoring and running the ball, have been
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: a problem for as long as they have. We need
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: to see that he can come up with some solutions.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Have you seen during his tenure– by the way, I agree.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: I don't know– the way I've said it, Mike, is
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: when the same issue keeps presenting over and over and
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  Speaker 1: over and everyone knows the issue and you keep getting
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the same result, I don't think he knows how to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: fix it. Is there something you could point to in
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: 24 games under Kellen Moore that you could say there's
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: progress where he has fixed something that wasn't going well?
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's two. I mean, one is in general, the
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: whole reason we feel good about Tyler Shuck and the
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: passing offense in the first place is they've done some
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: really good things. I mean, Tyler Shuck has done some
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: really good things. A lot of them over time, you know,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: you can't help but notice that his best work seems freelanced.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: It feels like it's only when they're in hurry up
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: and they're down and it's third and long and it's
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: no huddle. that's where they do their best work. And
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: so that obviously doesn't necessarily point to great game planning. But,
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: you know, obviously something in developing the quarterback and designing
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: some passing plays that, I mean, they're probably one of
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: the best third and long teams in NFL history because
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: they're always in third and long. So that's been a
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: positive that you want to see them build on. And
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: there were three things we talked about after last season.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: It was the slow starts. it was the run game,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: and it was the red zone. And they've been a
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: terrific red zone offense this year. So that is one
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: area where they have shown progress. But the other two
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: are so confounding, and I think the reason they're so
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: confounding is they seem so, I don't want to say
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: simple to fix, but reasonable to fix. Just have a
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: decent run game. Just score some points in the first quarter.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Hmm. I know. New Orleans, not football. He's at Mike triplet.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: The trade deadline is approaching. Should this team be buyers
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: or sellers?
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Well, not buyers. And, and I just published a story
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: today that said, that's probably one of the good things
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: that came out of this bad stretches. They're not going
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: to trick themselves into being buyers and thinking, Hey, let's
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: go for this. And it's the South title. Like, There's
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: a world where they could be like four and three
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: and tied for first in the NFC South and trading
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: for a veteran player to go for it. That's not
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: where they should be right now, obviously. And they won't
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: be and shouldn't be. Sellers, yeah. But it's hard to
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: pinpoint how to be a seller. The guys in the
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: last year, their contracts... aren't going to fetch much. They
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: don't have a Rashid Shaheed or a Marshawn Lattimore right
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: now that got really good returns from other teams. They
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: don't have that type of player that's in the final
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: year of their contract. You could trade a Cam Jordan
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: or an Alan Kamara if they really wanted to. They've
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: resisted in the past. I don't know if they'd want to,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: but you could do that for them and for the
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: sake of moving on with younger players. You could trade
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: a Devon Godshaw or a Nathan Shepard or something like that,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: but you're not getting much return if you do that
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: and then we were talking about on the show today
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: we're a little torn on there's some guys with two
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: years left on their deal that are in their late
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: 20s like Carl Granderson and Justin Reed and Eric McCoy
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  Speaker 2: and Pete Werner and I guess you could maybe if
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  Speaker 2: somebody was really offering you something that you're like wow
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: that's a that's a real pick but I wouldn't just
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: give those guys away because if this team is going
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: to turn things around by next year and they do
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: want to support Tyler Shuck you don't want to totally
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: deplete things around him so I I don't see any,
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: they should be sellers, but I don't see any obvious
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: sales to make.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: What about Cesar Ruiz? Because I've heard that. I think
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: I saw that someone had mentioned, floated that.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would mention him in that same group that
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: I just said. He has two years left on his deal,
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: but I think in his case, I think this team
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: probably is prepared to move on from him. Jeremiah Wright's
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: not ready right away. Like, you know, he's raw, and
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: he showed that he's raw in these last two games,
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  Speaker 2: even though he's promising. So, you know, Tyler Shuck could
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: be in a little more jeopardy if you switch right
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: now from Cesar Ruiz to Jeremiah Wright, but I don't
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: think Cesar Ruiz is part of the team's long-term planning.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: So if you could get something solid in return for him,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I don't need to just give him away for like
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: a sixth-round pick, but if somebody was offering something decent,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: he'd be a guy that would make sense, sure.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: What do you think would be decent? Because I would
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: give him away for a sixth-round pick because he ain't
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: coming back next year, so I'd get something for him.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I get that, but like I said, I mean,
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: giving away parts of this offensive line right now with
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: the hits, but Tyler Shuck is taking it out.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: It can't be worse. Oh, my God.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And he has not been as bad in pass
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: protection as much as he has struggled in run blocking. But, yeah,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think anyone would offer a fourth.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Is a fifth enough? I don't know. But, you know,
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: you're saving a little money then, too, I guess. So,
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: you know, we'd have to discuss a fifth in the room.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: He's Mike Triplett, neworleans.football, at Mike Triplett. Did you eat
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: any crepes on Sunday morning?
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Like I said, I did not go to Paris, but
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: I have had crepes in the past week. It is
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: a triplet family, enjoyable delicacy, Nutella and strawberries, Nutella and bananas.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: Did you make them or did you get them from
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: the place you told us last week?
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: T-Swirl crepes.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: T-Swirl.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Unpaid endorsement two weeks in a row.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: T-Swirl Crepes. Do you have the address?
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Saverne. Saverne, near the mall.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: All right, near the mall in Saverne. Okay. In Metri.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: Got it.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: I'm going to T-Swirl Crepes next time I'm in the city.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Doing it.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: They're value for pancakes. Did you eat any French bread? No.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Let's see. French food that I've had... I've had French
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: toast in the last two weeks. I can't remember if
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: it was during Paris. It was. It was definitely during
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Paris week because I went out with somebody while the
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: team was away and I had the afternoon off. So
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: had French toast during Paris week. And we should really
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: be celebrating this, right?
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: I mean.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: I know you want to talk about the football team,
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: but we should be celebrating the French partnership right now,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: shouldn't we?
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Because last week we discussed if this is going to
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: be a long-term partnership with the Saints and the city
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: of Pele. And I'm here for it. I don't mind it,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: I guess, if you've got to do the stupid international games.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: I don't mind going to Paris.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I like the branding of it. Like I said,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: just make sure you're not giving– you don't do it
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: at the expense of extra home games. Heck, extra home games.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: You just, every time it is your turn in the
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: rotation and you are required to give up a home
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: game because all teams are equally, then you can play
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: your home games in Paris and be the team of Paris.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: I do like that.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Is there a place you would also like, I'm okay
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: with it being Paris, but if they were going to
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: go elsewhere, they've been to London, they've now been to Paris.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Is there another place you'd like for them to go?
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Um, I guess I like the idea of them doing
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: something different. So other teams have the rights to Italy,
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: I think, so going to Rome or something. I think
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: another team is doing that already this year, I think, maybe.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: I'll look it up.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: So that one's been done before. I would want to keep, like,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: how about just no, like, don't get into this Australia-New
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Zealand business. That could throw you off for the whole season. Like,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: keep it as many, how about, you know, Ireland. Ireland's close.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Spain is kind of close. Keep it as close as
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: possible time zone-wise.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: No NFL games scheduled in Rome.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I thought Italy's in the works, I thought. But maybe
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: I'm making that up. But no, I like the France thing.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Don't make it random. Do the France thing. I'm cool
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: with it. But just minimum number of times. Minimum number
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: of disruptions. I....
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I think more in terms of where would the fans
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: want to go? And New Orleans fans going to Amsterdam?
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, that would be a scene, man. All right.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I'd like to see that.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I'm into it. I'm into it. All right.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Mike Triplett, neworleans.football. Get him at Mike Triplett at Mike Triplett. Thanks, dude.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Thank you.