2. New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are coming off of a tough season in which they won just seven games, which was shockingly almost enough to win the NFC South. Why is it that things could be going so bad so quickly for the Saints?
Every year that passes by is another year removed from the Sean Payton era. You’ve got Mickey Loomis out here making ridiculous trades like the trade he made during the 2022 NFL Draft with Eagles GM Howie Roseman and the other ridiculous trade he made with Roseman involving defensive back CJ Gardner-Johnson.
The Saints should have a top-10 pick in this year’s draft, but they don’t. The Saints should have a shot at a legit young QB near the top of this class, but they don’t. I think the further this team gets removed from Sean Payton, the worse they could be.
Dennis Allen is the Saints’ head coach and he’s got a chance in the 2023 offseason to lure Derek Carr to town to come and be his starter, just as he was back in 2014 when both were with the Raiders.
But what if Carr doesn’t come? What do the Saints do at the quarterback position? What’s going to happen with Alvin Kamara’s current off-field situation? Where is the Saints’ pass rush going to come from? How are they going to get cap space to be able to make impact acquisitions this offseason?
We’ll see what kind of magic Mickey Loomis can conjure up, but for now, the Saints look like they’re on the brink of disaster.