You would think that when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the season, it would have stirred up a position battle to replace him in New Orleans. On the contrary, it actually eliminated a potential battle between Vilma and newly signed Curtis Lofton.
But the suspension didn’t take care of all the unanswered questions at linebacker.
The Saints have eight linebackers currently on their roster. Losing Vilma is going to force a number of these players to begin cross-training, not just to help with the loss of Vilma, but also to protect against potential injury devastation. If someone were to get hurt, the Saints need a large pool of replacements available. Cross-training helps in that arena.
Cross-training isn’t going to solve everything, however. Two of the three linebacker positions will still be fought over.
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