Somewhere between the two pick-sixes Andy Dalton tossed Thursday night, was anyone else double-checking the Saints’ draft capital for 2023, only to remember their (probably quite high) first-round pick is going to the undefeated Eagles?
New Orleans, now 2–5 after Thursday’s 42–34 loss to the Cardinals, captivated us this offseason with the idea of pretending the loss of Sean Payton was not a funeral of sorts. They handed the head coaching gig to Dennis Allen, their overqualified defensive coordinator. They traded up into the first round in a draft that every other team was bailing out of like the automotive stock market during the chip shortage. Naysayers (myself included) were charmed by the idea that Jameis Winston’s promising start to the 2021 season could be sustained, that Chris Olave could have a Ja’Marr Chase–like impact on the offense, the defense would stay a top-five unit and that, sooner or later, Tom Brady would leave the NFC South. So, it made sense to stock up now. At that moment, it made all the sense in the world, and, really, who was going to fault a mostly veteran team for refusing just to tread water?
The problem: What would happen if the post-Payton plan didn’t work out? And, seven weeks into the experiment, it very much looks like it’s not going to work out. In fairness to the Saints, one of Dalton’s wrong-way touchdowns was incidental, a kind of fluky tipped ball gifted to all teams now and then. In a global sense, their team has been absolutely decimated by injury with Thursday’s inactives looking a bit like a Pro Bowl roster. We haven’t even seen Trevor Penning, their other first-round pick in 2022, due to injury, and when Olave manages to get his hands on the ball, he looks great.
