We all knew it was coming eventually, it was just a matter of time. As it turns out, it only took about five days to take some of the wind out of Saints fans’ sails and bring us back down to earth.

The situation with Sedrick Ellis has officially become a pain in the ass. The weekend also saw Dulymus experience some swelling in his knee which we can only hope doesn’t become chronic. Tracy Porter and Jack Hunt each came down with a hammy, and it didn’t take long for TheMario to secure the lead role in the summer’s hottest sequel, Meachem 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Not that there hasn’t been good news too. Specifically, Mike McKenzie has officially joined the ranks of modern medical marvels, having participated in practice less than eight months after busting up an ACL. That’s nothing short of amazing, and having that magnificent dreadlocked bastard back on the field is potentially a huge bullet dodged for the Saints’ weakest unit by far. By most accounts, with each passing day, Mehlhaff is bringing us ever closer to a merciful end of the Marteen Era. Josh Bullocks remains on PUP, but if you had to choose a presumed starter to suffer some kind of misfortune which puts him on the sideline, and Jason David were ineligible, most Saints fans would have Bullocks right at the top of the list.

So in the grand scheme of things, we’ve gotten off light so far. So we’ve got that going for us, which is nice. I guess. Hell, half of New England’s roster is on PUP right now. Dulymus only missed one practice. All indications so far are that Porter’s and Devery’s hammies are fairly minor, and at least half of us hate Devery’s guts anyway. TheMario had himself a moment or two, but most accounts are that he wasn’t exactly blowing chumps up out there. And at least Meachem 2 does not feature a scene with Jean Claude Van Damme getting his groove on in a spandex bodysuit.

But the Big Bringdown is Big Sed. Sure it’s just a matter of time. There’s somewhere around zero chance this is going to drag on too much longer. In fact, I’m pretty sure my bitching about it will result in his signing before I finish typing.

Meantime, we’ll never know whether the lost time will be detrimental, or whether it will actually be beneficial. Everyone will pass their own personal judgment on that, of course, but the truth is none of us will ever know. On one hand, if practices weren’t beneficial, they wouldn’t do it. On the other hand, had Sed been practicing from day one, he could be sitting where TheMario is sitting right now. There’s just no telling, and anyone who claims to know one way or the other is full of shit.

What we do know is that it’s starting to piss off Coach Payton. And that can’t possibly be good. We also know that there’s very little, if any, good reason for all this dicking around. Dorsey’s signed, Gholston’s signed, and you have last year’s first round rookie contracts values to lean on too. Too many fans have a woefully oversimplified view of contract negotiations, and act like it’s far less complicated than it actually is. But at the same time, how many more data points do you need? It’s hard not to get the feeling that Sed’s agent, Eugene Parker, is simply waiting for everyone else to do his damn job for him.

I’m not the type to get on a moral high horse about the business of football. Heaven knows there are plenty of working class heroes out there who are all too happy to take up for the common man versus the evils of market forces and lament the fact that state troopers and school teachers don’t pull down eight figures. There are also legions of "love of the game" types who never miss an opportunity to bitch and moan about how "agents are ruining football."

The truth is that business is no place for high-minded idealism, and when it comes to labor vs. management in the NFL, there simply is no moral high ground. It’s intellectually dishonest to refer to NFL football as "a kid’s game" (funny how people usually only use that description when a contract dispute is involved) and to talk about "quibbling over a few million" like it’s pocket change. I don’t care who you are, a few million is a lot of money. It’s easy to ask "How many millions does one man need?" when it’s someone else who would be leaving that few million on the table, and not you.

On the other hand, as a fan, it’s hard not to let it piss you off. Ultimately, all we really care about is how it impacts the team’s chances for success, and we reflexively conclude that lack of practice reps is counterproductive for the player and the team. Usually that’s true, and it might prove true in this case as well. But don’t let it keep you up at ni…

…wait, hold on a second…

…nope, still hasn’t signed. Fuck!

So… um… uh… how about this Arrington dude? You know this kid must be the real deal, I mean he’s making an absolute fool out of Jason David out there!

Somewhere out there, Onome Ojo, Chase Lyman and Mike Hass are thinking to themselves "Why the fuck couldn’t I have been lining up against Jason David when I was trying to make the roster? Oh cruel fate, why must you mock me!"

In other news, we here at moosedenied thought we had the market cornered on sunshine and lollipops, irrationally-positive pollyanna bullshit, but the recent message board reaction to Jim Henderson’s less-than-enthusiastic assessments of Arrington and the defensive backfield makes even us want to puke. I mean, they’re totally throwing Henderson under the bus. All of a sudden, Message Board Guy is pretty sure he has turned into a crotchety old bastard who hates the world and carries no credibility.

Because, in Henderson’s apparent opinion, the secondary still pretty much sucks. No fuckin’ way! Clearly they’re great now! I mean, I mean, Randall Gay! Usama Young! Aaron Glenn! The new and somehow improved Jason David! How could Henderson not be impressed by all of that?!? And then he dares to insinuate that the Saints might not have found a second Marques Colston in three drafts? Doesn’t Henderson realize that we’re the SAINTS for crying out loud, and that Colstons just kind of grow on trees for us? Lousy bastard.

I shit you not… Message Board Guy #4683 even went so far as to say: "I trust our own posters out there observing the practices and posting reports over Henderson’s opinion…"

Guh.

That name again is Message Board Guy. Proudly making jackasses like me look comparatively smart since the mid-90’s. High five!