Saints see another season dwindle away
The New Orleans Saints watched the final seconds tick away in Charlotte on Thursday night. After the clock hit triple zeroes, the Saints had lost 23-20 to the Carolina Panthers, dropping them to 4-6 and in last place of the woeful NFC South.
For New Orleans, it likely means another season without the playoffs. Head coach Sean Payton has to be tired of singing the same old song, with all offense and no defense. The Saints have continued to put off the total rebuild with an aging quarterback in 37-year-old Drew Brees, with general manager Mickey Loomis continuing to restructure contracts while signing free agents with expensive swipes of pens.
All of it has led to an incredibly bad cap situation, one that nobody in New Orleans seems particularly worried about. Perhaps their attention will turn to that, with the Saints now all but out of the playoff picture. The salary cap is $166 million, and the Saints have more than $40 million in dead money, far more than any of the other 31 clubs.
New Orleans has to stop this cycle of competing to the point of getting a mid first-round pick. The Saints have been able to hit on some of their most-recent first-round picks, highlighted by safety Kenny Vaccaro and wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Still, the talent has not been enough on the defensive side of the ball to make Brees and the offense worth watching.
At some juncture, Loomis and the Saints have to start thinking about when the time is right to blow this group up. Brees is getting toward the end of his Hall of Fame career, and without him, this creation is lucky to win six games. Payton might be one of the better head coaches in football, but he’s not going to win without a top-flight quarterback to run his system.
In some ways, maybe it’s time to move on from the whole process altogether. The Saints have had the same power structure for more than a decade, and it netted them an elusive championship. Yet all great things come to and end at some point, and Loomis, Payton and Brees might consider going out together.
New Orleans has a workable schedule the rest of the way. While games against the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions are tough, there are contests against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (twice), Los Angeles Rams. You could see 4-2, maybe even 5-1 with a break here and there. If the latter happens, it is 9-7 and maybe hope for a wild card berth. Unfortunately, the odds of only one more loss seem long.
New Orleans loves its jazz, but it’s time to sing the blues.
