Bouman, Martin to battle behind Brees

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, June 20, 2006  |  Comments( 2 )

New Orleans Saints
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When preseason drills begin for the New Orleans Saints in August, quarterbacks Todd Bouman and Jamie Martin could be competing for a starting position.

There's a catch, of course. Obviously, the Saints aren't paying Drew Brees megabucks to leave him on the bench. But if the coaching staff doesn't feel Brees' arm strength has fully returned from offseason surgery on his throwing shoulder, it might fall to either Martin or Bouman to start the September 10 opener at Cleveland and maybe a game or two thereafter.

And it wouldn't be like throwing raw meat to the Dawg Pound -- Bouman started the last three games of 2005 for the Saints when Aaron Brooks was benched, and Martin stepped in for Marc Bulger in St. Louis when Bulger was hurt.

If it were simply a numbers game, Martin would win. He completed 70 percent of his passes for 1,277 yards and five touchdowns as a starter in St. Louis, while Bouman managed 722 yards and two touchdown passes. Both QB's threw seven interceptions, although Bouman's came more quickly. Perhaps most importantly from Payton's perspective, Martin went 4-1 as a starter, Bouman 0-3.

Still, Bouman, who is spending the summer running a kids' football camp in St. Cloud, MN (he attended St. Cloud State) has had his moments. In his first NFL start for the Minnesota Vikings in 2001, he threw for a team-record 348 yards and four touchdowns, earning a dazzling quarterback rating of 131.5.

And Payton might feel a kinship with Bouman, a fellow small-school player who spent four years as the "inactive" quarterback on the Minnesota roster before getting his shot. After graduating from Eastern Illinois, Payton tried Canadian football and Arena ball and even served as a replacement player for the Bears during the 1987 NFL strike (Keanu Reeves played Payton in the movie "The Replacements.").

Martin, a product of Weber State, has persevered, as well, logging a lot of bench time with St. Louis, Cleveland, Jacksonville and the Jets.

Both quarterbacks are nearing the end of their careers -- Bouman will be 34 when August drills begin, Martin is 36 -- and whoever loses this competition may well be finished as a pro. Second-year man Adrian McPherson will probably be the third quarterback, although he's a work in progress.

It could be argued that Bouman found himself at the helm of a dispirited team by the time he was elevated to first string. His promotion was seen more as a slap at Brooks than a compliment to Bouman, and by that time the team was exhausted from 10 losses and the myriad aggravations and inconveniences forced upon them by Hurricane Katrina and having to move "home" games to other cities.

When the Saints signed Martin as a free agent, Payton said: "He's a good decisionmaker, a good anticipator, and he beat us when we were with Dallas last year."

May the better man win. For a few games, anyway.

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