The New Orleans Saints released Junior Galette yesterday, fed up with the pass rusher after various off-field incidents. It's a move that won't help a defense that hasn't been very good lately, especially in fantasy terms.
Galette had 10 and 12 sacks for the Saints the last two seasons, more than a quarter of their total over that span (83). And that's been the only thing this defense has been particularly good at; it's ranked in the bottom 5 in takeaways, and doesn't have a defensive or special teams touchdown in either season.
In a scoring system that gives 1 point for sacks, 2 points for takeaways and 6 points for defensive touchdown, only San Diego has fewer total fantasy points over the last two seasons than New Orleans. Now it's cut ties with its best pass rusher.
| D/ST FANTASY POINTS PER GAME, 2013-2014 COMBINED | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2013 | 2014 | Total |
| Philadelphia | 7.2 | 10.7 | 17.9 |
| Kansas City | 11.6 | 5.8 | 17.3 |
| Buffalo | 8.4 | 8.8 | 17.2 |
| St. Louis | 9.3 | 7.5 | 16.8 |
| Arizona | 8.8 | 7.2 | 16.0 |
| Seattle | 9.4 | 6.6 | 15.9 |
| Carolina | 9.0 | 6.9 | 15.9 |
| New England | 7.8 | 7.5 | 15.3 |
| San Francisco | 8.1 | 7.0 | 15.1 |
| Green Bay | 6.6 | 8.3 | 14.9 |
| Denver | 7.7 | 6.9 | 14.6 |
| Dallas | 7.9 | 6.8 | 14.6 |
| Cincinnati | 9.2 | 5.3 | 14.4 |
| Chicago | 8.1 | 6.2 | 14.3 |
| Cleveland | 7.0 | 6.8 | 13.8 |
| Pittsburgh | 6.3 | 7.4 | 13.7 |
| Miami | 6.5 | 7.1 | 13.6 |
| Indianapolis | 7.0 | 6.6 | 13.6 |
| Detroit | 6.6 | 6.9 | 13.4 |
| NY Giants | 6.9 | 6.6 | 13.4 |
| Tampa Bay | 7.3 | 6.1 | 13.4 |
| Minnesota | 6.6 | 6.8 | 13.4 |
| Baltimore | 6.6 | 6.7 | 13.3 |
| Houston | 4.3 | 9.0 | 13.3 |
| Jacksonville | 5.7 | 6.6 | 12.3 |
| Washington | 7.4 | 4.7 | 12.1 |
| Atlanta | 5.8 | 6.0 | 11.8 |
| Tennessee | 6.5 | 5.2 | 11.7 |
| Oakland | 6.6 | 3.9 | 10.5 |
| NY Jets | 5.3 | 4.6 | 9.9 |
| New Orleans | 5.4 | 4.5 | 9.9 |
| San Diego | 4.7 | 5.1 | 9.8 |
--Andy Richardson