Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Mark's time is over in DC. He signs with the Saints.

Another confirmation link will follow. Heard the same information on the Riggins show Live.

Good luck!

[B]Bye, Bye Brunell[/B]

[FONT=Times New Roman,times,serif] From Jason L: Former starting quarterback Mark Brunell has signed with the New Orleans Saints, according to a league source. Brunell visited the Saints this week and also drew significant interest from Atlanta and Green Bay. He was the first player Joe Gibbs pursued after returning to coaching in 2004. He was the primary starter the next two seasons before losing his starting job to Jason Campbell midway through the 2006 season.
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Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Wow I honestly thought he would just ride off into the sunset. Im surprised he'll get another season in. Good Luck MB you were a class act here in DC.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Good luck to him. I wish him well.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[QUOTE=Warpath;431773]Wow I honestly thought he would just ride off into the sunset. Im surprised he'll get another season in. Good Luck MB you were a class act here in DC.[/QUOTE]

He has another pay check to collect.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2008/03/bye_bye_brunell.html]Bye, Bye Brunell - Redskins Insider[/url]

Here's the link for those interested

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;431775]Good luck to him. I wish him well.[/QUOTE]

X2...

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Mark will always be a part of Redskins' lore. The Monday Night Miracle will go down as one of our greastest victories over the Cowgirls.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=Skinsfan1967;431779]Mark will always be a part of Redskins' lore. The Monday Night Miracle will go down as one of our greastest victories over the Cowgirls.[/quote]


Definitely!! That was by far the greatest Redskins moment in my short fandome. Hail, Mark! Good luck in NO.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

honestly, I consider him a cancer. From my point of view, most of what we accomplished was in spite of him. While there are many to choose from (AA, Lloyd, TJ, etc) I feel he was Gibbs 2.0 biggest mistake. I say this not so much because of his stats (which were not good) but mostly due to the opportunity cost associated with not playing someone else. In short, we put way too much faith in a broken down body.
That said, I can't fault him for taking the money and I can't deny that he is a class act. Good luck to Mark "MVP" Brunell.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[QUOTE=SmootSmack;431775]Good luck to him. I wish him well.[/QUOTE]

agreed, i kinda wished we'd kept him around for a drastic drop in salary, and as mentor guy to JC

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

I don't think there has been another redskins player in my relatively short lifetime that polarized the fan base the way Mark did. Something tells me we will still be talking about him 5 or 10 years from now.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=SeanTaylor21;431784]agreed, i kinda wished we'd kept him around for a drastic drop in salary, and as mentor guy to JC[/quote]

I wish Mark only the very best. But it was time for Mark to move on or retire, although IMO I think he can be a possible #2 for a fill in (a few games), #3 role he's fine as a mentor for another year maybe two, who knows maybe even a future QB coach. So unless it where to be a veteran minimum contract I'm glad his time has come to move on.

And as far as a mentor to JC that would be Todd, and we have a solid #2 QB. Todd has been around the block a few times and can mentor JC and compete at a high level.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

i wish nothing but the best for him. he was a total class act while here. and no redskin fan will ever forget the miracle in Dallas

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Good luck dude. I never really liked him on the Skins roster, but somehow I would catch myself watching him. Never really knew when he was going to get hot and make a big play, or if he was going to just keel over.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Class act! Mark Brunell gave us some good games. Definitely no where near a cancer on the team. Brunell, as a celebration of my 4,000th post! Here's to you Cowboy killer! ;) Good luck in NO!

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Godspeed Brunell.

Happy he's got a long shot on another team, glad it's not ours.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

It's a two year deal:

[URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3291948"]ESPN - Roundup: Brunell agrees to two-year contract with Saints - NFL[/URL]

Quarterback [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=2485"]Mark Brunell[/URL] felt positive enough about his visit with the [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=nor"]New Orleans Saints[/URL] that he decided to work out a deal instead of continuing a tour of interested team. Brunell agreed Thursday evening to a two-year contract with the Saints. Though the contract hasn't been finalized, Brunell agreed in principle to the numbers and the opportunity to back up starter [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5479"]Drew Brees[/URL]. Last year in Washington, Brunell lost the backup job [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=3116"]Todd Collins[/URL]. When Collins re-signed at the start of free agency, Brunell knew he needed another team if he wanted to continue playing. The Saints were a good fit. New Orleans was close enough to his offseason home in Jacksonville, and the Saints were looking for an experienced hand coming off the bench.
[I]-- John Clayton, ESPN.com[/I]

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

He was a classy Q.B and I wish him the best. I hope he has a good time with the Saints.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Two things I will never forget about Brunell's time in DC...those two bombs to Moss to beat Dallas when all hope was lost...and the thread to Moss in overtime against Jacksonville to win. Glad he was a Redskin and thankful he was there for Campbell in the beginning to mentor.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

In three seasons, the Saints have moved their QB situation from Aaron Brooks backed up by Todd Bouman to Drew Brees backed up by Mark Brunell.

That's some good work by the Saints, I'll tell ya what.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[QUOTE=BrunellMVP?;431783]honestly, I consider him a cancer. From my point of view, most of what we accomplished was in spite of him. While there are many to choose from (AA, Lloyd, TJ, etc) I feel he was Gibbs 2.0 biggest mistake. I say this not so much because of his stats (which were not good) but mostly due to the opportunity cost associated with not playing someone else. In short, we put way too much faith in a broken down body.
That said, I can't fault him for taking the money and I can't deny that he is a class act. Good luck to Mark "MVP" Brunell.[/QUOTE]


Are you going to consider changing your user name? j/k

Glad to see MB caught on in NO. I was for a long time one of Brunell's staunch supporters even when it became evident many of his skills had eroded. He was a consummate professional during his time here in Washington, and I wish the best for him. He may even get a chance to play in NO.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

One of the things that I always loved about Brunell is no matter how poorly his skills eroded (save the one year abberation in 2004), he always found a way to continue producing. If he gets called on in New Orleans, theres no doubt he will find a way to keep that offense rolling. That's a good situation for his twilight years.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[QUOTE=GTripp0012;431824]One of the things that I always loved about Brunell is no matter how poorly his skills eroded (save the one year abberation in 2004), he always found a way to continue producing. If he gets called on in New Orleans, theres no doubt he will find a way to keep that offense rolling. That's a good situation for his twilight years.[/QUOTE]

Did we watch the same Brunell? He had about 7 decent games in a Redskins uniform in almost 3 years as a starter.. He'll go down as one of the WORST QB we've had, especially since he was a veteran who was supposed to come in and lead the offense.. He may be a great guy, but he was done when he got here, sucked while he was here and I'm glad he's no longer here. Good riddance.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

I feel like I've done this 100 times, but I'd definately calling the BS here.

If you are of the opinion that the QB is responsible for the quality of the passing game, it's hard to defend your statement. 11th in 2005, 9th for the first 9 games of 2006. That 9th was even more impressive when you realize that it was done while we f'ed around with the Brandon Lloyd freakshow, and a bunch of poor games from a still-learning Randle El.

Presumably, Campbell is going to achieve more here than Brunell did, and Collins was successful in limited time also. But the guys who preceeded MB were Ramsey, Matthews, Wuerffel, Tony Banks, and Jeff George. Any objective (and I mean any) measure will show you that Brunell was far better than any of those players here.

He was as successful as Brad Johnson was, and you can keep going back, and back in time and find that our QB production was pretty terrible prior to 2005. Since 2005, we've been incredibly stable, and certainly Collins and Campbell deserve their credit for that, but Brunell has played more snaps than either of those guys as a Redskin.

So, yeah, saying he's one of the worst QBs we've had makes about as much sense as saying that Patrick Ramsey deserved eight more shots at the starting job here. No matter how much objective evidence can be addressed, some people just won't give up the point.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

To add to my last point, you have to go back to the Turner era to even find the last time the Redskins were league average in passing offense prior to 2005. Jeff George '00 was the last Redskins' QB prior to Brunell '05 to have even a mediocre season, and by the next year he was replaced with the career awful passer, Tony Banks.

There were a few problems with the offense in the second Gibbs era, but Brunell is not your culprit here, and I tell you that with overwhelming confidence.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

I think that last year the Falcons would have loved to have Brunell. If I remember right the Falcons flirted with the idea of trading for him after the Vick fiasco but decided that Joey Harrington was their guy. This was during training camp and before the Falcons realized that they were going to need every draft pick if they wanted to get better.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

I was one of the many here that always criticized MB. He took alot of crap from the fanbase and all he did was go out and do his job like a true professional. I have alot of respect for him.

Good luck MB. You were a true class act in DC.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[QUOTE=GTripp0012;431848]I feel like I've done this 100 times, but I'd definately calling the BS here.

If you are of the opinion that the QB is responsible for the quality of the passing game, it's hard to defend your statement. 11th in 2005, 9th for the first 9 games of 2006. That 9th was even more impressive when you realize that it was done while we f'ed around with the Brandon Lloyd freakshow, and a bunch of poor games from a still-learning Randle El.

Presumably, Campbell is going to achieve more here than Brunell did, and Collins was successful in limited time also. But the guys who preceeded MB were Ramsey, Matthews, Wuerffel, Tony Banks, and Jeff George. Any objective (and I mean any) measure will show you that Brunell was far better than any of those players here.

He was as successful as Brad Johnson was, and you can keep going back, and back in time and find that our QB production was pretty terrible prior to 2005. Since 2005, we've been incredibly stable, and certainly Collins and Campbell deserve their credit for that, but Brunell has played more snaps than either of those guys as a Redskin.

So, yeah, saying he's one of the worst QBs we've had makes about as much sense as saying that Patrick Ramsey deserved eight more shots at the starting job here. No matter how much objective evidence can be addressed, some people just won't give up the point.[/QUOTE]
Ok, calling him one of the worst Redskins QB was overstating it BUT with the level of expectation that came with him and what he represented (Gibbs first player he targeted), what we gave up (a draft pick when he was going to be released) and the was he was so indignantly defended by the coaching staff when it was OBVIOUS he was done made his tenure torturous to bear.

As to the passing rankings, I'm not as interested as where they finished statistically as results.. He had one good year in 3, 2005. Other than that he was garbage. I could complete 70% of my passes if I didn't throw more than 5 yards downfield for a majority of the game. I was one of the biggest critics of Gibbs offense during 2.0 but MB played a big role in that.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

finally

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

Thanks for the 2 great games you played in a period of 4 years.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=djnemo65;431788]I don't think there has been another redskins player in my relatively short lifetime that polarized the fan base the way Mark did. Something tells me we will still be talking about him 5 or 10 years from now.[/quote]

We've had a few here in recent years, but it would have to be between he & Lavar as the most polarizing.

I think in time Brunell will be more appreciated by the fans. As has been mentioend, the 14-13 monday night game is one of the greatest of all time. He came in & out w/Gibbs.

In a way he was the on field embodiment of Joe Gibbs.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[QUOTE=GTripp0012;431848]I feel like I've done this 100 times, but I'd definately calling the BS here.

If you are of the opinion that the QB is responsible for the quality of the passing game, it's hard to defend your statement. 11th in 2005, 9th for the first 9 games of 2006. That 9th was even more impressive when you realize that it was done while we f'ed around with the Brandon Lloyd freakshow, and a bunch of poor games from a still-learning Randle El.

Presumably, Campbell is going to achieve more here than Brunell did, and Collins was successful in limited time also. But the guys who preceeded MB were Ramsey, Matthews, Wuerffel, Tony Banks, and Jeff George. Any objective (and I mean any) measure will show you that Brunell was far better than any of those players here.

He was as successful as Brad Johnson was, and you can keep going back, and back in time and find that our QB production was pretty terrible prior to 2005. Since 2005, we've been incredibly stable, and certainly Collins and Campbell deserve their credit for that, but Brunell has played more snaps than either of those guys as a Redskin.

So, yeah, saying he's one of the worst QBs we've had makes about as much sense as saying that Patrick Ramsey deserved eight more shots at the starting job here. No matter how much objective evidence can be addressed, some people just won't give up the point.[/QUOTE]

While I understand your points, I think they are somewhat misplaced. Just because we've had a string of horrible qb's doesn't justify going out and trading (dropping serious coin) on a talent that was only marginally better. In my opinion, we paid for a 2000 bently and got a used 1985 honda instead. Any way you slice it, his performance did not merit his cost (salary itself as well as the time spent squandered on his broken, oft injured body). I don't understand how you can defend him just because of our past, as if somehow we should rejoice and or applaud just becuase we are used to futility. I expect more.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

I didn't realize Brunell had his best statistical year as a member of the Redskins. I would have bet he had at least one better one in J-ville.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

On his best days, Brunell was slightly better than average. From a quartebacking perspective - I am elated to see him go.
He is a good man, a good representative of the organization, and the trigger man for the "Monday Night Miracle" in Dallas. For that I will always think well of him.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=BrunellMVP?;431923]While I understand your points, I think they are somewhat misplaced. Just because we've had a string of horrible qb's doesn't justify going out and trading (dropping serious coin) on a talent that was only marginally better. In my opinion, we paid for a 2000 bently and got a used 1985 honda instead. Any way you slice it, his performance did not merit his cost (salary itself as well as the time spent squandered on his broken, oft injured body). I don't understand how you can defend him just because of our past, as if somehow we should rejoice and or applaud just becuase we are used to futility. I expect more.[/quote]

If what you're saying is Brunell was not worth the price we paid, I think you have a point, however you can't blame a player if a team is willing to pay him that much. If you feel he wasn't worth it, then the next question would be, what's the alternative?

I'm sure there are a lot of answers to that, but that's all in hindsight. Teams struggle to find quality qb's & while he was no pro bowler, he wasn't one of the worst.

Would Brunell have been as criticized if he came here under a different coach & the results were the same?

After all, he was the qb on our first playoff team since 99. I think he took a lot of the blame that was directed at Gibbs. He was an easier target than Gibbs, and he took the blame for the whole offense's struggles.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

.... I'll miss you MB ... :-(

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=GTripp0012;431848]....If you are of the opinion that the QB is responsible for the quality of the passing game, it's hard to defend your statement. 11th in 2005, 9th for the first 9 games of 2006..... [/quote]
First let me say Good luck to MB in N.O.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the stats you are quoting are Total Yards - Offense. If you look at:
Passing Yards for 2005 we were ranked 21st, 5th in Passing TDs.
Passing Yards for 2006 we were ranked 21st again, 17th in Passing TDs.
2004 was a trainwreck.

Brunell was a very good leader, good mentor, serviceable back-up, and a significant improvement over Wuerfel, Matthews and Ramsey. He was a good game manager. He wouldn't make the critical mistake to kill the team, but because his limitations hampered offensive production it was more of a slow bleed. The problem with MB is, his arm has been done since he arrived here. Other than the miracle against Dallas, he hasn't been able to throw a pass with any velocity over 15-20 yards. His accuracy has also gone way downhill since 2006. If there is no threat by the QB to stretch the field, the defense has a huge advantage and the offense is extremely limited. You can't survive on screens and 5-yard check-downs for very long. Especially on 3rd & 8+.

Here are a couple more factoids on MBs production.
Since Nov 2005
MB has passed for over 200 yards in 5 out of 18 games, and for over 250 in only 2 of 18.
He has thrown for more than 1 touchdown in 5 out of those same 18 games, but 0 touchdowns in 7 of 18.
His QB rating in 2006 was over 77 in only 4 out of 9 games.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=hesscl34;431931].... I'll miss you MB ... :-([/quote]

Yes, but for all of the wrong reasons.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=GTripp0012;431848]I feel like I've done this 100 times, but I'd definately calling the BS here.

If you are of the opinion that the QB is responsible for the quality of the passing game, it's hard to defend your statement. 11th in 2005, 9th for the first 9 games of 2006. That 9th was even more impressive when you realize that it was done while we f'ed around with the Brandon Lloyd freakshow, and a bunch of poor games from a still-learning Randle El.

Presumably, Campbell is going to achieve more here than Brunell did, and Collins was successful in limited time also. But the guys who preceeded MB were Ramsey, Matthews, Wuerffel, Tony Banks, and Jeff George. Any objective (and I mean any) measure will show you that Brunell was far better than any of those players here.

He was as successful as Brad Johnson was, and you can keep going back, and back in time and find that our QB production was pretty terrible prior to 2005. Since 2005, we've been incredibly stable, and certainly Collins and Campbell deserve their credit for that, but Brunell has played more snaps than either of those guys as a Redskin.

So, yeah, saying he's one of the worst QBs we've had makes about as much sense as saying that Patrick Ramsey deserved eight more shots at the starting job here. No matter how much objective evidence can be addressed, some people just won't give up the point.[/quote]Well if you want to compare him to those QB's than yes he was an improvement but if you want to compare him to some real NFL QB's then it gets a litttle tough. I've back MB because he was our only choice for a few years and we were stuck with him. I feel as others do that JG's success the past 4 years was hampered by his age and play. I hope only the best for him and felt he gave us his best and was a team player. It just sucks getting old.

Re: Mark Brunell signs with the Saints.
 

[quote=freddyg12;431929]If what you're saying is Brunell was not worth the price we paid, I think you have a point, however you can't blame a player if a team is willing to pay him that much. If you feel he wasn't worth it, then the next question would be, what's the alternative?

I'm sure there are a lot of answers to that, but that's all in hindsight. Teams struggle to find quality qb's & while he was no pro bowler, he wasn't one of the worst.

Would Brunell have been as criticized if he came here under a different coach & the results were the same?

After all, he was the qb on our first playoff team since 99. I think he took a lot of the blame that was directed at Gibbs. He was an easier target than Gibbs, and he took the blame for the whole offense's struggles.[/quote]


As I wrote in my first, post, I cannot and do not fault Mark for taking the redskin's bid. The point of my first statement was simply, while MB wasn't horrible from a playing perspective (though even in his good year, he wasn't healthy enough for the playoffs, so really, what good did it do? Ask the eagles) he was not a good choice given the investment (both financial and the opportunity cost associated with not trying someone younger and more able)- fact is he couldn't play a full season plus post season at 100%.