New Orleans Saints

Head Coach: Vacant

Record: 5-12 (worst in the NFC South)

The Saints started off 2024 red hot. In their first two games, they scored a combined 91 points. This of course gave Louisiana a level of hope not felt since Drew Brees hung up the cleats.

This hope was quickly turned to dust as the 2-0 Saints fell to 2-7 and wouldn’t see their next win until November. Needless to say, the New Orleans offense fell off and their defense never got going. Both units finished in the bottom half of the league, with the defense being bottom three in yards allowed per game and second worst in rushing yards allowed per game. Combine this with an aging core on offense with star running back Alvin Kamara turning 29, Derek Carr turning 33, and their leading receiver Juwan Johnson turning 28 this season, and the team sharing the same injury bug that the New Orleans Pelicans have contracted and you have a recipe for disaster. A total of 14 players ended up on IR including the Saints 3 starting WR Chris Olave, Rasheed Shaheed, and Bub Means, TE Taysom Hill, and starting OT Ryan Ramczyk. 

With their brutal 5-12 campaign over the Saints look toward the offseason with a lot more problems than answers. The Saints let go of coach Dennis Allen by week 9 and now need to fill the spot. If that wasn’t difficult enough on its own they need to do so with a number of teams competing with them for the top coaches available. Many of those teams have rosters far better set up to compete immediately or at least have franchise quarterbacks, two things the Saints do not have. Still I could see the Saints using their young receiving core, decent trade assets and high first round pick to persuade a solid candidate to settle down in the bayou. I can see them landing either Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo or Lions DC Aaron Glenn. 

Once that issue is settled they need to look toward resigning key players and free agency. Here’s the issue, the Saints currently have the worst cap situation in the league. The team has signed ludacris contract after ludacris contract and has backed themselves in a bit of a corner. Now GM Mickey Loomis is tasked with once again finding loopholes to help keep some guys around and improve the roster. 

First and foremost they need to decide who they are bringing back. Paulson Adebo seems like a no-brainer, and you could probably get Juwan Johnson on a cheap deal but everyone else is a question mark. Guys like Willie Gay Jr and Chase Young don’t really fit the teams trajectory and could find success elsewhere, meanwhile other players could most likely be replaced in free agency or the draft. As far as adding talent goes it all depends on what the Saints spend to keep guys around and if Lummis can once again find money out of thin air to get guys in the building like he has done in previous offseasons. This means that the Saints will really have to hit with their draft selections. 

With the Saints sitting at pick 9 they are officially out of QB range. This is arguably their biggest need as Derek Carr isn’t getting any younger or any better and rookie Spencer Rattler didn’t flash any star ability over his 9 games played this season. Unless the team makes a move up in the order or Shaduer falls to 9 the Saints will most likely have to deal with another year of this QB tandem. That being said I don’t see a world where the Saints move up, so what should they do with 9. Well the Saints main issue at the moment is defense and the offensive line, specifically at tackle and edge. Saints legend Cameron Jordan isn’t getting any younger and even if the Saints bring back Chase Young they are going to need some massive help on that front. Edge players like Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Georgia’s Jalon Walker make a ton of sense here. However, I can also see the Saints looking to upgrade the o-line taking a swing at Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr or LSU’s Will Campbell.

I would venture to say they’ll do the latter seeing as it’s a relatively deep edge class and the tackles don’t get much better than these two up top in 2025. The team could also surprise fans and draft analysts alike by going for Georgia Safety Malaki Starks. Tyrann Mathieu is in the twilight years of his career and Will Harris might not be brought back so safety is going to be a huge priority for New Orleans this offseason. Though maybe a bit of reach here Starks is a phenomenal player who is polished in both the run and pass game making him seem like a sure fire success no matter when he’s taken so why not in the top 10?The Saints could also target a running back and interior lineman in the later rounds. Players like Ole Miss DT Walter Nolan or Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson come to mind. 

With the offseason right around the corner the Saints have a lot to figure out. They have numerous holes to fill on the staff and the roster and still have no clear answer on the future for multiple positions. The future looks a bit bleak in Louisiana but with a good draft and a solid coaching hire it can turn around in an instant.