New Orleans Saints: Is signing Chris Hogan the right move?

With Michael Thomas likely missing multiple weeks of the 2021 season, the New Orleans Saints signed Chris Hogan to try and help fill the void. 

After the disaster that was 2020, it seemed like things would be on the up-and-up. For some NFL teams, they are — but not for the New Orleans Saints. Every time the team starts to catch a break, things start to fall apart. Obviously, I’d be remiss to not talk about Drew Brees’ retirement, a move we all knew would be coming soon.

Without Brees, the Saints don’t really feel like the Saints. He’s been such a huge part of the team’s identity for so long and seeing something else take up the mantle is weird. Even weirder is the fact that the Saints are losing players left and right. Most notably, it looks as if the team will be without Michael Thomas for the beginning of the season.

While Thomas had somewhat of a down year in 20 20, he was still productive. He might not have dazzled as he did in 2019 but injuries plagued him. Once again, it’s a theme he’s carrying into the 2021 season as it looks as though he’ll be missing at least a handful of games after undergoing ankle surgery in June. To try to combat his loss, the team decided to sign Chris Hogan.

While the signing of Hogan seems promising, it doesn’t seem like much of a solution. If anything, it proves that some bigger problems could be on the way. Ultimately, it seems like the New Orleans Saints we’ve come to know are no longer and things are going downhill. Could the signing of Chris Hogan be the beginning of the end?

Is signing Chris Hogan the best idea for the New Orleans Saints this season?

Let’s start off with a few positive notes about the Saints signing Chris Hogan. First, Hogan has a lot of NFL experience and, most recently, played for the New York Jets in 2020. That experience is going to work well as most of the Saints receiving unit is relatively young. Secondly, Hogan is a pretty low-risk pickup when it comes down to it as he wasn’t even playing in the NFL when they signed him.

As for the concerns, the major concern is Hogan not being prepared when the regular season starts as he hasn’t played in a game since October 2020. While it might not seem like a while, it will be almost a year when he returns to the field. He’s signing with an entirely new team that is essentially trying to figure out its identity. Throwing him in the mix might not be the smartest.

Additionally, the other major concern with Hogan is focused more on the team than him. In signing Hogan, the team is essentially putting a band-aid over a problem. Rather than working to try to fix it, they sign someone who brings experience but ultimately, was on an entirely different path until they called him. Ultimately, it’s a confusing move to make when the team is already struggling with issues.

Overall, it seems like the New Orleans Saints are at a crossroads right now and have no idea what the team’s identity is supposed to be. Without Drew Brees, the team lacks a true leader as both Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill have yet to blossom. Additionally, the loss of Michael Thomas adds another layer of confusion. Defensively, the team has some guys who could be leaders, but Brees was that guy for so long it could be hard to step up and find someone else.

The New Orleans Saints have so much potential and extremely talented players that it’s sad to see how the 2021 season is playing out for them. Maybe, they’ll end up surprising us when the season starts. However, right now things in New Orleans are messy and the Saints aren’t helping themselves as much as they could. As fans, it’s frustrating to see how things are going but it’s the plights of being a Saints fan.

Hopefully, the Saints will surprise all of us in 2021 and be as dominant as they have been in previous years. Right now though, everything seems like a mess. Let’s just hope that the New Orleans Saints are able to right the ship and have a decent season without Drew Brees at the helm.