Hallelujah! No Sens(e)-Abaugh In New Orleans Actually a Good Thing

Okay, so the article title is a little cheesy. I apologize sincerely. It's just that when I heard the news that the Dallas Cowboys were made a sucker by signing Safety Gerald Sensabaugh, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars, I was relieved...no make that ecstatic!

It's not that I have anything against the Cowboys per se. It's more the fact that I had heard the New Orleans Saints were "interested" in adding the fifth-year safety to their secondary, and frankly that scared me half to death.

At this point, I feel we can rest pretty peacefully. Any other safety the Saints choose to bring in to "upgrade" the position will make more sense, at least in my mind, than Sensabaugh.

Here is essentially what Dallas is getting:

1. A one-year starter who excelled only because of increased opportunities. Opposite safety Reggie Nelson missed quite a bit of time last season, but when he was in the game, was just as productive as Sensabaugh. He's made 24 total starts in his first four seasons in the league.

2. An above-average Special Teams player. That is really the only reason Sensabaugh was even able to maintain a roster spot with Jacksonville in his first two years in the league (I admit this is a good quality though).

3. Someone whose been arrested one less time than the amount of years he's played in the league; three.

4. A guy who isn't physically intimidating or big; nor is he the fastest guy in the world (and I'm not even a big measurables guy).

Why This Didn't Fit

1. If New Orleans was going to grab a safety in Free Agency (which they still could), it needed to be someone who has proven themselves as a good pass defender for more than one season.

2. While it's great to have good Special Teams guys, the Saints need to land a safety who doesn't need to play Special Teams. He needs to be a guy who can play the safety position very well in the mold of an Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu. Heck, I'd settle for Adrian Wilson-production.

3. His Character. Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis have made it a priority to bring in high-character guys to New Orleans. Sensabaugh wouldn't have qualified in that description.

4. While you can argue that none of those elite safeties I mentioned above are the most physically imposing safeties in the league, they all play the game with an edge that I'm not sure Sensabaugh possesses.

Where to Go From Here

The casual fan, and some informed fans as well, would likely point to Free Agent Darren Sharper. While such a pick would not bother me as much as signing Sensabaugh would have, I say let's go ahead and take Malcolm Jenkins with our First-Round pick, assuming he's available. He can play safety, or we could move Mike McKenzie to that position.

If Jenkins is not available, let's move down in the First-Round, add a second round pick (for another Running Back or our future starting Center) and draft D.J. Moore, who could likely play safety if necessary.

No matter what we do from here on out (save not addressing the position at all), we won the Free Agency battle in the division, look to be a much improved team in 2009.