We’re a few weeks into free agency and everyone has a take on how well each team has improved (or degraded). NFL.com’s Eric Edholm recently released his first power rankings since free agency began, saying that the article is meant to be a reflection of each team’s 2023results and the moves they’ve made thus far in the 2024 offseason.
Changes at quarterback and coaching elicit the greatest response. It’s a fun exercise to see how teams are viewed prior to the draft. The New Orleans Saints came in at 25th:
The Saints haven’t truly been gutted in free agency, and they managed to sign Chase Young in spite of their salary-cap constraints, but they also haven’t truly upgraded in any one obvious way, either. Both lines of scrimmage need multiple additions, and wide receiver is pretty barren. It’s going to be hard to make the offensive talent significantly better around QB Derek Carr, based on what’s available and what they can spend.
New Orleans should be able to seek help at receiver and on the offensive line in the draft, but they had better find ready-made talents who can step in Year 1. Carr and Dennis Allen can’t yet be sleeping too easily, given the state of the roster. If this coming season is a failure, it’s hard to have confidence in the futures of either beyond 2024.
Harsh. Edholm clearly doesn’t share the opinion that coaching was the biggest detriment to the New Orleans offense. Your opinion on if the Saints can improve their offense largely comes down to if you believe in Klint Kubiak. The Saints dropped 10 spots despite remaining essentially the same as last year, roster wise. Edholm is not a believer.
Is it the Greatest Show on Turf? No, but describing the wide receiving corps as barren feels extreme. Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed are a solid foundation with room to grow within the room. The description of the trenches is more accurate than his take on the receivers. The Saints do need to make improvements on each side of the ball, but New Orleans isn’t as far from simply being average as Edholm believes.
