New Orleans Saints Ready for Life Without Jonathan Vilma

With the New Orleans Saints announcing that they have reached an agreement on a five-year contract with former Seattle Seahawks linebacker David Hawthorne, a little over a week after reaching an agreement with former Atlanta Falcons middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, it appears the writing is on the wall for Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma. 

Vilma, as you probably know (if you haven't been under a rock the past few months), is awaiting word on what his punishment will be for his involvement in the Saints' bounty scandal. While the NFL indicated in its original release regarding the bounty investigation that "between 22 and 27 defensive players contributed funds" to a bounty pool over three seasons, Sports Illustrated's Peter King claims that an NFL report sent to all 32 teams details how Vilma "offered any defensive teammate $10,000 in cash to knock then-Vikings quarterback Brett Favre out of the (2009 NFC Championship Game)." 

I am thinking that Vilma will most likely face a four-to-eight-game suspension. If that's the case, then the Saints are clearly preparing to move on at the position. Lofton and Hawthorne are both good, if not great, linebackers. Hawthorne started 41 games for the Seahawks and finished with more than 100 tackles in all three seasons. He joined the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent out of TCU in 2008.

Lofton, meanwhile, started all but one game his rookie season. While mostly a two-down player that year, he became an every-down player for the Falcons. He led the team in tackles in 2010 with 142.

While neither Lofton nor Hawthorne may be the talent Vilma is (and Vilma himself showed signs of regression last year), the Saints look to be more than ready to move on with two very productive players if and when Vilma becomes unavailable.