Ben Grubbs to New Orleans Saints: Deal Analysis, Grade and Twitter Reaction

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the New Orleans Saints have made a nice replacement to Carl Nicks along the offensive line:

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Saints land replacement for Carl Nicks, sign Ben Grubbs to a five-year, $36 million deal, including $10 million signing bonus.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2012"

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With that now done, let's quickly break it down, get some tweets and provide a grade.

Deal Analysis

$36 million plus another $10 million over five years is quite the contract for a guy coming off his first Pro Bowl selection.

Ben Grubbs spent the first five years of his career in Baltimore, where he made almost $3 million in 2011. And although that's a lot of cash, it's nowhere near on the level of what the Saints have acquired him for.

However, is was a great move for both sides, and perhaps this entices Drew Brees a little bit more.

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Twitter Reaction

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Auburn's Ben Grubbs will now be blocking for Alabama's Mark Ingram with the Saints.

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"— Matt Smith (@MattSmithCFB) March 15, 2012 "

 

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#Saints didn't waste much time to get their Carl Nicks replacement. Ben Grubbs is a very good get at that.

— SN's Vinnie Iyer (@vinnieiyer) March 15, 2012

 

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Losing Ben Grubbs to Saints upsets me.

— Michael Franklin, Jr (@Mr10thFranklin) March 15, 2012

 

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To be fair, Ben Grubbs will make up the difference between his contract and Carl Nicks' contract in bounty money.

— Collin McCollough (@cmccollo) March 15, 2012"

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This was a great addition for New Orleans and a tough loss for the Baltimore Ravens. During Grubbs' tenure in Balty, the Ravens' rushing offense ranked No. 16 in 2007 (rookie season), No. 4 in 2008, No. 5 in 2009, No. 14 in 2010 and No. 10 in 2011.

The Ravens were also an average pass-protection team, however, much of that can also be attributed to Joe Flacco not releasing the ball as quickly as his quarterbacking counterparts. In New Orleans, Drew Brees has a quick release and dissects defenses as good as anyone in the game.

Grubbs will continue to help the running game remain stout (as it was No. 6 in 2011) and provide Brees with enough time to scan through his progressions.

Provided that New Orleans can now improve the defense and its No. 24 overall ranks (allowed almost 370 total yards per game), then maybe the Saints have a shot at ousting the NFC's elite for a shot at Super Bowl XLVII.

Grade: A

John Rozum on Twitter.