NFL: Selecting the best player in each franchise’s history
By Brad Rowland
New Orleans Saints – Willie Roaf
Some people would immediately gravitate toward Drew Brees in this spot and they wouldn’t be “wrong” necessarily. Brees has done yeoman’s work in helping the Saints emerge from decades of futility, and the duo of Brees and Sean Payton brought a Super Bowl victory to New Orleans. However, some of his NFL work came in San Diego, and the longevity (accompanied by dominance) isn’t there for me to give him the nod as the flagship player for the Saints.
Of course, some of those same gripes could be made for Willie Roaf, who completed his career with four years in Kansas City, but I maintain that the peak was higher in New Orleans. Roaf was selected to seven consecutive Pro Bowls as a member of the Saints, and that timeframe also included two nods as a first-team All-Pro member. He was as dominant as any tackle of his era, picking up the mantle from Anthony Munoz, and Roaf’s selection to the Hall of Fame in 2012 was well-deserved.
If this ranking were simply based on franchise “impact,” Brees would be the choice. “Best player” refers to on-field greatness when compared to a player’s peers, though, and I’ll give Roaf the (very) slight edge in that regard over Brees.
Next: New York Giants