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Leading up to the February 25th deadline to use the franchise tag, many assumed that one of the players getting tagged would be Saints' safety Darren Sharper.However, the Saints have decided against tagging the ballhawk safety and will take a chance that whatever contract they offer him will be enough for him to stick around.
But, to me, this is a huge mistake on the Saints' part. Why would you even take the chance on your best defensive player (besides, perhaps, Jon Vilma because of his age) hitting the open market?
Teams are looking at a very thin free agent market, the lack of a cap, and some may be willing to throw money around this season, win a Super Bowl, and then deal with the repercussions once the salary cap is back in place.
Sharper is a perfect candidate for a guy who's going to get overpaid.
He's coming off a fabulous season with the New Orleans Saints (nine interceptions, three touchdowns) that ended with a Super Bowl victory. Teams that win the Super Bowl get torn apart in free agency to begin with, but in this limited market it could be even worse with every Saints player hitting the market being scooped up immediately.
The Saints could be making the same mistake the Eagles made last season when they appeared positive that Brian Dawkins would accept the hometown discount and remain an Eagle. But the Broncos came in, substantially overpaid him, and it was just too much for him to turn down.
Dawkins was much more faithful to Philadelphia than Sharper is to New Orleans after spending only one season there, and coming off a Super Bowl victory it will be a whole lot easier for him to take as much money as possible before his career comes to an end due to his age.
My gut tells me that Sharper won't be back in New Orleans once he gets a Dawkins-type offer from a team looking to rebuild on defense. Everyone has seen what he did for New Orleans, and I believe he'll parlay that into a bloated contract with a mid-level team.
Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens (were Ed Reed to retire), Houston Texans, and Washington Redskins all come to mind.
