Sep 29, 2010

Saints Sign John Carney and Keep Garrett Hartley

After Garrett Hartley's chip-shot miss against Atlanta, the Saints have brought back veteran kicker John Carney. But Hartley isn't being shown the door. Instead the team cut WR Adrian Arrington.

On Arrington first, many fans are upset that he's the one who got chopped. We'll see if he clears waivers, and if he does, he'll likely go back on the Saints practice squad. If he doesn't get claimed, then it shows that fans have overvalue a player who, although he shined in this year's preseason, has been hurt and underachieved in his previous years.

Onto the bigger issue, now that the Saints have two kickers, who do they go with on Sunday? I still think Hartley will get the nod and feel that Carney was brought in more as a mentor/coach relationship, similar to last year. It's obvious that Carney doesn't have the leg strength anymore for deep field goals and there's no way they activate two kickers and a punter on game day, is there?

I think Hartley is in a funk, but the schedule is easier these next four games, so he should have a chance to kick a few field goals with out pressure. The question remains is how confident are the Saints in Hartley right now? Will we see Coach Payton going for more fourth downs instead of FGs? This will be interesting to watch play out.

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