New Orleans Saints: Are Buccaneers the biggest worry in NFC South?

Should the New Orleans Saints be worried about the new-look Buccaneers?

The New Orleans Saints have dominated the NFC South as of late. But after a big offseason of changes, they may have more competition in the division. In fact, it’s fair to ask if the Saints are any longer a lock to win the division in the 2020 season.

Of course, this all refers back to Tom Brady signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency. Along with Brady, Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement to play alongside his former teammate following a trade. Matched with veteran head coach Bruce Arians, should the Saints be scared of the Bucs or is it more noise than anything?

In 2019, with Jameis Winston at quarterback, New Orleans prevailed in both meetings between the NFC South rivals. But while the Saints finished 13-3, the Buccaneers fell short of the playoffs with an overall record of just 7-9.

It’s unclear how much different things will be in the 2020 season. Bucs fans are thrilled to have Brady but how much better will that make them? The shortened offseason with a new quarterback, even a six-time Super Bowl champion, could lead to miscommunications and misunderstandings in the Tampa Bay offense.

There is also a worry of overconfidence with the Buccaneers. Fans are already feeling extremely confident in their team but we have not seen 43-year-old Brad leading the offense yet. Furthermore, we’ve seen locker room arrogance sink talented teams in recent history as well. It’s a slippery slope for a team establishing a new identity.

New Orleans Saints still kings of the division

Though the Buccaneers are talented and could very well improve. However, the NFC South is still the Saints’ for the taking. They’ve won the division three years in a row and have the infrastructure to remain on top. They may be pushed more by competition in the division in 2020 than they were last season but they have proven themselves in the regular season time and again.

Yes, the Saints should be prepared for Brady, especially with some offseason losses on defense. At the same time, they are the kings of the NFC South and, if anything, Brady and Tampa Bay should be preparing for how they’re going to dethrone New Orleans.

Until we see it on the field, there’s no conclusive answer as to how big of a threat the Bucs will be to the Saints in 2020. However, given the changes that Tampa Bay has to adjust to, even if they upgraded talent, there’s no question that the Saints are the favorites.