The New Orleans Saints Are In Deep Trouble
The Saints season came to end back on January 9th. Now, they face an even bigger challenge, replacing Sean Payton. Yesterday, Sean Payton sent shockwaves around the NFL after it was announced that he would be stepping down as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. So now, the Saints don’t have a true starting quarterback on the roster, they are $74 million over the cap and now they have no head coach. In simple terms, the New Orleans Saints are in deep trouble.
Quarterback dilemma
Last offseason Jameis Winston signed a one year deal with the Saints. Things were looking great for Winston until he tore his ACL and damaged his MCL against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Halloween. Yes, Taysom Hill came in to replace Winston, but it wasn’t easy. When Hill went down with an injury, New Orleans had to dig deep and use Trevor Siemian and Ian Book. Replacing Drew Brees wasn’t going to be easy, but now with no Sean Payton it became a lot harder.
With both Russell Wilson open to the idea of being traded and Aaron Rodgers wanting out of Green Bay, the Saints were a team to keep an eye on. Now, with realistically no sense of direction, count the Saints out. Most likely what New Orleans will do is draft one of the quarterbacks in this year’s draft.
Cap casualties
They’re coming. This makes the Saints head coaching job not attractive at all. Being $74 million over the cap isn’t ideal for any team. But a team with no coach or quarterback it makes things worse. One of the cap casualties could be star wide receiver Michael Thomas. Thomas didn’t play in 2021 due to ankle surgery. With that being said, he could be one of the first players moved via trade. By far Thomas has one of the biggest contracts on the team and he would be a giant cap weight lifted off New Orleans’ shoulder’s if a trade happens.
Other than Michael Thomas, another player to keep an eye on is Taysom Hill. It’s no secret that Sean Payton loved to use Hill. But, his contract is insane considering Hill is more of a utility player. In 2022, the Saints owe him $12.325 million. Again, for a player that’s more of a utility player, this is insane.
Replacing Sean Payton
Whoever replaces Sean Payton has massive shoes to fill. Payton brought New Orleans their only Super Bowl victory. It wasn’t all easy though as Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season after the findings from the bountygate scandal. Payton leaves New Orleans with a 161-97 record as a head coach, delivering seven division titles, nine playoff appearances and one Super Bowl appearance and victory.
So what will New Orleans do here? Sean Payton endorsed defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to be the next head coach. Even if that is the most likely option, the Saints should also interview Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. The Saints certainly will have a lot of eyes on them this offseason to see how they possibly dig themselves out of this grave they are in.
Images from: neworleanssaints.com, theringer.com, denverpost.com
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-Matt Burnett (@mattthew_jordan on Twitter)