Jason David Is Still Not Good

The new-look Saints defense still features a very old look -- cornerback Jason David on the wrong end of the highlight reel.

On a night in which the imprint of new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' aggressive scheme was evident even through the veil of vanilla that saturates the NFL preseason, David essentially assured himself a spot on the Saints' first batch of cuts with the same bad play that has watermarked his career since joining the team in 2007. There was much for Saints fans to like based on their first glimpse of this new defense -- Jonathan Vilma's omnipresence, a visible confidence, the ability to take the ball away -- but perhaps the most comforting knowledge lies in the fact that David won't be a liability anymore once the games that matter start, even from the bottom of the depth chart.

David entered Friday's game, a 17-7 win for the Saints over the Bengals, on the brink of unemployment as is, the fifth cornerback in the pecking order with a salary far too outsized for his role. He was already looking up at Tracy Porter, Jabari Greer, Randall Gay, and Leigh Torrence, and that was before Malcolm Jenkins officially signed his rookie deal. But a positive impression on the new coordinator, whose scheme seems on the surface a better fit for David's gambling style, could have earned David a job (or at least more time for evaluation).

Instead, it was more of the same from the diminutive defensive back -- biting on a pump-fake here, missing a must-make tackle there. Except this year, unlike last, there is too much quality depth amongst the cornerbacks that David's feet, so used to peddling in pursuit of a receiver with the ball and more than a few steps of lead room, will now be held to the fire.

In the real world, where there's more to a person than job performance, rooting for David's demise isn't exactly kosher; he's always come off as a likeable guy, is popular in the locker room, and has held himself publicly accountable every time it was warranted. Still, that and $7 will only get you a beer in an NFL stadium. Sympathy for a millionaire is not a concern for fans, how you perform determines your total worth.

By that measure, David is hardly worth the league minimum let alone the $2.8 million cap charge he carries this season. Because of that disconnect, the free agent market at cornerback is about to become a little more crowded.