NFL: The Decision

By Mike Williams

Coming into the draft off of a playoff season, the New Orleans Saints had to feel good about their position entering the 2001 season. After all, every player but one was competing in their offseason workout program. That one player however, was star running back Ricky Williams. So on Saturday, the Saints made a move to stir things up by taking Mississippi running back Deuce McAllister with their #23 selection.

According to sources within the Saints front office that spoke with fanstop.com, the team’s reason for drafting McAllister was more than just to send a message to Williams. According to the sources, the Saints are openly shopping Williams for a trade, with intentions to make McAllister the starting running back. According to sources, Williams has completely fallen out of favor with Coach Jim Haslett.

The personnel we spoke with confirmed that the Saints are shopping Williams to four different teams. While they wouldn’t say who those four teams were, they stated that it was no one in their division. The Saints also stated they believe that they are looking for fair market value for Williams, i.e. at least a second and a fourth round pick.

“We are fully prepared to ship him out,” said the source that spoke with fanstop.com on condition of anonymity. “Obviously when we drafted him, we were under a different regime. It is much different than when he was brought in and he has not wanted to adjust to that. Therefor we feel that it is time to make a change.”

Williams was the subject of the now famous Mike Ditka trade in which the ex-New Orleans coach traded his entire draft for the right to move up to #5 and select Williams. Williams then signed an incentive laden deal, however he failed to meet those incentives and wound up playing for the rookie minimum. After comments made their way into a newspaper about his view of New Orleans fans, he fired agent Master P. All this has served as a backdrop to what thus far has been a less than great career.

“Ricky came in here with a lot of hype,” the source said. “However, he hasn’t lived up to that hype. This really is the combination of a lot of things, mostly relating to how he has handled his career in New Orleans. There are a lot in this organization that feel he is just not the right fit for the Saints anymore.”

Thus comes the drafting of McAllister. A 6’1”, 220-pound superstar that accounted for 2,880 yards and 38 touchdowns over a 3-year Mississippi State career. Sources we spoke with stated that McAllister is the perfect fit for what the Saints want to do offensively and that he will play more into the Haslett type of system.

“Deuce is a great player,” the source stated. “He fits well into the system and he will be able to do a lot of great things. We don’t know if he will be the starter or splitting time with Ricky, but we do know he is here for a reason. We now have to figure out what that reason is.”

So where does that leave Williams?