During Peter King’s latest column for Pro Football Talk, he shares what seems to be rare optimism for the New Orleans Saints in the upcoming 2022 NFL season. He ranks the Saints as the sixth-best team in the NFC, ranking at No. 11 overall across the league. This would mean that he has the Saints making the playoffs, albeit as a wild-card team. Here is what King had to say about the Saints:
Strange that I like the Saints to be perhaps a win better in 2022 than ’21, even though the brain of Sean Payton will be in a FOX studio on Sundays instead of finalizing a game plan for Jameis Winston. I remember Winston pledging allegiance to Payton last offseason and being so excited to play for him. Now he’s going to have to channel that affection into offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, who will be the play-designer and -caller for the first time in his Saints coaching career. “They’ll miss Payton more than people think,” one wise NFL person told me last week. I tend to agree. But there is an offensive salve. How many teams can line up in a three-receiver set with the potential explosiveness of Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave. Not many. Winston will have a playoff receiving corps to lean on every week.
While he does mention that the Saints will likely miss Sean Payton, he does give credit to the fact that they have a much improved corps of offensive weapons to make things easier. Winston and Carmichael will have less of a burden making plays than last year’s crew of Rouses Market workers and semi-pro lacrosse players on offense.
