It’s tough to spin the New Orleans Saints offseason into a positive right now. They’ve lost a cornerstone of the defense they promoted Dennis Allen to maintain, replacing Marcus Williams with an older, injury-prone player facing a suspension to start the year. Their divisive stunt to try and trade for Deshaun Watson failed and led them to overpay Jameis Winston mid-ACL recovery on a two-year deal to try and make amends. Now, with the field of free agents thinned out considerably, the Saints have a lot of money at their disposal and few options to spend it on.
But it’s not all bad. They can always save those resources for another day. And there are enough good players still out there to make a difference for New Orleans. If they can circle the wagons and put their energy towards a coherent plan for 2022, they’ll be right back in the mix for a playoff seed. Here’s a good look at the state of the league from NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus, who has the Saints falling back a few spots after the first big wave of free agency left them short-handed. After previously ranking New Orleans at No. 18, he’s since bumped them down to No. 22:
“The Saints struck out in their pitch for Deshaun Watson and, as a result, are now faced with familiar questions at quarterback. On Monday, they re-signed Jameis Winston to a modest contract that seems to line up the former No. 1 overall pick as the Week 1 starter for the second consecutive season. Meanwhile, the failed run at Watson wasn’t a complete loss: The Saints opened up more than $30 million in cap space during the process. Some of that presumably went toward Winston, but New Orleans can still be a player in the second wave of free agency — a.k.a., the place where smart teams can clean up on team-friendly deals.”
Hopefully the Saints can move forward and either re-sign left tackle Terron Armstead or take steps to reinforce their offensive line, while adding better weapons for Winston to work with. Even a past-their-prime talent like A.J. Green, Julio Jones, or Jarvis Landry would add a lot to their ailing offense. They’ve got time and resources to work with over the next month, leading up to the 2022 NFL draft, which should give them ample opportunities to raise their standing across the league’s landscape. Hopefully the Saints can stop treading water and start making a splash.
