New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl quest all on Drew Brees’ mighty shoulders

It’s rare for an NFL team to consistently run things back and find success, but the New Orleans Saints are an exception. Their Super Bowl quest is firmly on Drew Brees’ mighty shoulders and right where he wants it.

Whether this is Drew Brees‘ final season or not, the New Orleans Saints are in Super Bowl mode. With a future Hall of Famer at quarterback, a team has to have its eyes on the top prize. There is no rebuilding or retooling allowed until that man is out the door. (Hello New England!)

For the Saints this offseason, transactions have been geared toward 2020. The two biggest moves were the additions of veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins and veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. Both should immediately step into starting roles for this club and help shore up areas of need.

Last year’s Saints were really good up front on defense but just middle-of-the-road against the pass. Assuming a second Jenkins (Janoris) gets his groove back, Malcolm should help this unit greatly. And it is even easier to see the role Sanders could play for this club.

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Last year, Michael Thomas led the league with 149 receptions. No other New Orleans player caught more than 81 balls and no other wide receiver had more than 30 catches! Both running backs and tight end Jared Cook were utilized more often in the passing game than any receiver outside of Thomas.

Sanders has missed time each of the past two seasons, but he will be the best No. 2 receiver this team has had in at least four years, since Brandin Cooks.

Is it all enough, though? With glory resting firmly on Brees’ shoulders, are the New Orleans Saints good enough to compete for a title? Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate the New Orleans Saints in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

The NFC South looked like it was going to be one of the toughest divisions in football after 2017’s triple-double (three teams each with double-digit victories). That hasn’t really happened. Everyone trickled away after New Orleans in both 2018 and 2019.

For two straight seasons, the other three squads in the South had seven, seven and five wins, respectively. We know the history of this division, with so many vacillations at the top and even three different Super Bowl representatives last decade but now the fourth and forgotten (Tampa Bay) feels like New Orleans’ top competition.

Naming the Bucs as the likeliest competition for the Saints doesn’t mean a division title will be a forgone conclusion. I can see a scenario where all three of Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa improve on last season, which would mean a possibly steep decline for New Orleans. But the Saints are certainly Super Bowl contenders.

With the draft still forthcoming, the Saints may look to improve at linebacker and offensive line. Those remain areas of need if not weakness. A return of a healthy Alvin Kamara would put a bow around the offseason. At one point, there was a chance that Drew Brees was not going to be a Saint in 2020.

After that brief unknown, the Saints are running it all back for at least one more season and look like one of the favorites in the NFC.

Dan Salem:

New Orleans is by far the favorite in the NFC South and top five in the league, right there with last season’s two Super Bowl combatants. Drew Brees is still playing at a very high level and with this being his likely final season, the Saints are going for broke. It was already announced that Brees has a TV deal in place once he retires, so there’s no time like the present to go out on top with another ring.

The Saints’ moves this offseason are indicative of this mindset. This is a team that knows its a stroke of luck away from being in the Super Bowl. All of the pieces are in place and no other team in the NFC is markedly better.

They simply need to find their groove, build momentum and roll through the newly expanded playoffs. No easy task, as everyone is well aware, so is there anything to gripe about in terms of New Orleans building a 2020 champion?

The draft looms large for most teams, but New Orleans will be okay no matter how things shake out. Obviously adding a rookie starter will help immensely, but building depth for the future is likely the Saints’ objective. I can see them grabbing a development quarterback in the later rounds, while targeting the best players available in the first two rounds. Not a glamorous outlook, but the best for a team on the brink of glory.