Fixing the New Orleans Saints In the Offseason

Fixing the New Orleans Saints In the Offseason

Over the next few months, the Saints have a lot of stuff to work out.

In order to better position themselves when they return to the field in June for obligatory minicamp,

New Orleans must reflect on a disappointing season even though it has just concluded.

To that end, they must begin working on their 2024 plan right away. It won’t be simple at all.

It will not be well-liked. To turn it around, a lot of things will be required.

It goes without saying that in certain cases we can fill in the gaps and bring things to light.

But what would a comprehensive New Orleans offensive look like?

This is my plan for fixing the team and addressing the most critical issues that need to

be resolved in the upcoming 100 days.

Sincere Assessments for Coaching Staff

It makes sense that the majority of the adjustments the Saints will undergo will be on improving their offensive line.

My personal choice would be to maintain Clancy Barone (tight ends),

Ronald Curry (quarterbacks/passing game coordinator),

and Kodi Burns (wide receivers) even though it seems like everything should be on the table.

Everything is subject to a rigorous and in-depth review after that.

Naturally, the biggest player the Saints might replace is Pete Carmichael Jr.

To be fair, New Orleans has been using the same offence for the previous seventeen years.

While some of the components have altered and evolved throughout time,

the fundamental idea has remained constant for a very long time.

Though the squad made progress towards the end, it was merely uneven.

New ideas and a different viewpoint would be appreciated.

We witnessed far too much of coaching and game preparation in 2023,

which can easily spell the difference between victories and losses.

Trevor Penning is one of the more worrying things going forward,

but Doug Marrone and Kevin Carberry had the offensive line ready

to play and figured things out after some serious issues early in the season.

Due to injuries, he was unable to see Jumbo play during garbage time as an offensive lineman on the practice squad.

That is quite concerning. This offseason,

New Orleans must find him the perfect coach or mentor,

or else the whole thing will end up being a huge bust.

We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out exactly,

but anything beyond the core members of the offensive line and offensive coordinator might be on the table.

I feel good about leaving things as they are defensively.

One coach to keep an eye on could be linebacker Michael Hodges.

He has performed admirably for the group for years,

so it won’t be shocking if someone gives him a closer look at things.

Below the Cap

RESTRUCTURES

These are on the horizon, as we all know. That’s just the way the Saints do things.

These have already been demonstrated by Jameis Winston and Marshon Lattimore.

Although Derek Carr’s contract won’t exactly need to be changed for New Orleans to become cap compliant,

he will undoubtedly be a top target for a restructuring.

With simply Carr, they may free up about $23 million if they decide to tamper with his contract.

Of course, adding vacant years to the deal is a standard tactic to aid the Saints with even more cap relief.

The Saints should and will consider a few of these players to help with the possible savings.

• Cam Jordan ($9.4 million)
• Demario Davis ($8 million)
• Erik McCoy ($6.7 million)
• Carl Granderson ($7.2 million)
• Cesar Ruiz ($6.6 million)
• Taysom Hill ($6.6 million)
• Alvin Kamara ($8 million)

That would also free up almost $76 million for Carr. Tyrann Mathieu and Juwan Johnson are

two more candidates to consider since they have the potential to bring in an additional $9.5 million.

The Saints will need to have room to sign youngsters and to spend money.

Hopefully, we’ll find out sooner rather than later.

MAKE HARD CHOICES

A few “old guard” Saints players may not return for the upcoming campaign,

as we already know. The method and’stay or go’ exercise from my colleague Ross Jackson makes a lot of logic,

even though those will undoubtedly surface soon enough.

The following are some exits that I wouldn’t be surprised by or anticipate:

Marcus Maye, Andrus Peat, Michael Thomas, and Jameis Winston.

It will be interesting to watch how Marshon Lattimore’s option clause is used in the future.

Nearly half of the pitch is taken away by Lattimore, who has a significant impact there.

While New Orleans demonstrated that they could prosper without him,

there were moments when they seemed to be at a loss.

If they were to trade him for any reason,

Alontae Taylor would remain in the slot and Isaac Yiadom would start opposite Paulson Adebo.

The success that New Orleans had in their final offensive effort against the Falcons,

even without Kamara, Ramczyk, Thomas, and Lattimore, was heartening.

It’s feasible, but by no means a standard we could genuinely accept as normal or get accustomed to.

Considering that the squad has been discussing a change in culture,

some of these players may not be considered.

Not to be forgotten is Dennis Allen’s reference about Kamara “looking older.”

Stricten Up on Scouting and Assessments

Small school discoveries and prototypes are great,

but you can’t expect a lot of inexperienced players to start for you or

even make an immediate difference if you want to turn this around.

Indeed, with the 14th and 45th picks in the Top 50, New Orleans has two selections.

Bryan Bresee was a gold mine, but the choices made in Rounds 2-4 didn’t really matter that much.

To be honest, the club gained more from their undrafted rookies and

players from Day 3 than they did from anything on Day 2.

New Orleans has consistently utilised Relative Athletic Scores (RAS) as a statistic and measure for selecting players.

The fact that a player must score at least a 9.0 or higher to even be considered by

the Saints is almost like a running joke. The Saints won’t be active again until Day 3 (as of right now),

following the two top picks. This isn’t the year to choose a project or guy who has the “potential” to be great;

rather, the Saints want to add a little more youth to their squad and

will be counting on some of their younger players to make major leaps.

Saints 2024 Draft Picks

• Round 1
• Round 2 (via Broncos)
• Round 5
• Round 6
• Round 7 (via Broncos)

Through the compensatory process, New Orleans may receive three additional picks,

but those aren’t expected to be better than a fifth-round selection.

It goes without saying that if they offload a player through a trade or in another way, they could acquire more.

Set Important Free Agent Positions First

AREAS IN NEED In the offseason, the Saints will need to fix a few obvious areas, but they should begin with the offensive line.

This is how it was thought of. You shouldn’t depend on rookies to shield a veteran like Derek Carr,

didn’t have a strong rushing game the previous season.

You don’t know what Ryan Ramczyk’s future holds, and Trevor Penning isn’t reliable right now.

Right now, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, and James Hurst are the only players that are guaranteed to return,

while Andrus Peat is a free agent. You might also include Landon Young as a player in the mix.

Put simply, you require one or more experienced offensive tackles.

I thought it was a great idea to bring in someone like Trai Turner for training camp during the previous offseason,

but he was forced to miss too much time due to an unfortunate injury.

When free agency opens, I’d bet most on offensive tackle.

I also wouldn’t rule out bringing back someone like Cameron Erving.

Initial targets: Bengals’ Jonah Williams, Patriots’ Trent Brown, and Patriots’ Mike Onwenu

REMAIN IN THE BARGAIN BIN AND AVOID THE SPLASH

Other than Derek Carr, the Saints added other inexpensive components that worked well with the team.

It was wise to get Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders, two defensive line starters,

for significantly less than their market value. Incorporating defensive backs such as

Ugo Amadi and Lonnie Johnson aided special teams in addition to providing another safety and slot option.

Again, the offensive line wasn’t all that outstanding, but Jamaal Williams didn’t have the season

that everybody had anticipated.

New Orleans should concentrate on locating individuals

that match the mould and will provide the team with meaningful playing time

and starting upside, excluding the offensive line.

They ought to consider replacing Michael Thomas with a seasoned receiver in case of injury.

Either you drown or you boom. Not everything shown above will appear exactly as it does in real life.

In actuality, nobody can truly predict what will occur.

one way or another, the Saints never fail to astonish and amaze.

In actuality, what counts is how crucial it is that it functions.

Things for the Saints might just look quite different if New Orleans can’t get it together for the upcoming season.

It’s playoffs or nothing for Dennis Allen, who is on his last strike.

This is the team’s final opportunity to succeed with its existing core.

Failure to make the playoffs could necessitate a complete reconstruction.

Never again can the Saints braintrust get away with mediocrity.

In 2024, the outcomes must speak for themselves,

and the effort to build it up and win back the sceptics and supporters must begin now.

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