Free Safety Ed Reed will go down as the greatest football player ever at Destrehan High School and he is a lock to be a first ballot NFL Hall of Famer when he decides to retire from the game.
This coming Sunday Reed, a nine-time Pro Bowler and the active NFL leader in interceptions with 61, has a chance to do something he has never done before – win a Super Bowl title.
As the game should be a defensive-oriented affair, the interesting part afterwards will be whether Reed will return to the Ravens in 2013. The 2000’s All-Decade free safety announced last week that he would play again in 2013, but there have been consistent rumblings that Baltimore will allow Reed to become an unrestricted free agent after the Super Bowl and the former 2002 first round choice of the Ravens will have a host of teams after his services, despite his age and injuries.
Teams that would have an interest in Reed would be the Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. However, if Reed does get an opportunity to shop his talents look no farther than the New England Patriots as his likely destination.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has long talked glowingly of Reed’s talents as a player and the void at safety for New England has never been truly filled since the retirement of Rodney Harrison.
I really believe in a defensive-oriented game the Baltimore Ravens defeat the San Francisco 49ers 23-20 on Super Bowl Sunday and Reed walks out of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with his first ever world championship under his belt.
Payton’s Back in the House
It did come as a bit of a surprise but Commissioner Roger Goodell announced last week that he had reinstated New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and that the exiled head coach would be allowed to return to the team immediately.
It didn’t take long for Payton to make moves on his staff. Less than 60 hours after being allowed back he fired defensive coordinator Steve Spaganuolo and secondary coach Ken Flajoie.
Immediate speculation has centered on Payton possibly hiring former Kansas City Chiefs head coach and long time defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel for the position.
Crennel has a connection to Payton as he worked for the Peyton’s closest friend in the football business, Bill Parcells, for a number of seasons with the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.
Payton also announced that the Saints would switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 alignment. This is the type of scheme that Crennel has coached the most during his NFL days.
Now, the first order of business for Payton after hiring a defensive coordinator, secondary coach and an offensive line/running game coordinator is to resign Pro Bowl offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod to a new long term deal.
Bushrod is considered one of the better left tackles in the NFL and he has done an excellent job protecting the blindside of quarterback Drew Brees.
The team also needs to find a top flight pass rushing outside linebacker to compliment the skills of Martez Wilson and Junior Galette, a ballhawking safety, depth at defensive end and cornerback and also a back-up noseguard to spell Brodrick Bunkley.
You can hear it in the tone of Payton’s comments, “The Future is Now.” With a 34-year-old Brees still playing in his prime, the window of opportunity is closing quickly.
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