Saints Nation: Bye Bye Beavers

Larry Beavers fielded a kickoff in the Saints’ last preseason  game and next thing you knew, he was gone. A few days later, the Saints signed Ladell Betts and next thing you knew, Beavers was gone… again, but this time for good. Beavers has embodied the harsh reality that you can go from a hero to a goat in a matter of days, if not seconds, in the league we all follow so closely as fans. They say that life in the NFL stands for “not for long”, and sadly Beavers is no exception to that cliche. The news was sad enough based on the fact that he seemed to defy long odds of making the roster with that electrifying play, but reading the following on his twitter page made it worse: “Whats up New Orleans i love u guys but i guess it wasnt enough!!!” Clearly Beavers was a decent guy and a capable football player that just got caught in a numbers game. The reality is the Saints have no use for him because they are so deep at receiver. With Colston, Henderson, Meachem and Lance Moore, the top 4 spots are completely locked up. Add Courtney Roby as the Saints’ reliable and primary kickoff return man, the addition of promising veteran Mark Bradley, and the emergence of youngsters Rod Harper and Adrian Arrington, and there was just no room for Beavers on the Saints. In fact, there’s no room for at least a couple of the more established names I just mentioned. He was doomed from the start unless players started dropping like flies from injury. This way, at least maybe he’ll get a chance to catch on with someone based on the incredible play he made. You have to think that was enough for someone with a weak return game to take a look at him. Maybe the Saints did him a favor by cutting him now?

In any event, I understood this guy had little to no chance of being on the team come September 9th anyway, but I wanted to acknowledge that he made a terrific play and that I’m sad to see him go. It’s the business of the NFL, but these players are people fighting for their livelihood too. Good luck to you Larry Beavers, and thanks for making the players on the Saints around you better with your competition!