2024 NFL Offseason Primer: New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints

Projected Cap Space: -$21.1 million

Draft Picks: 9

• 1st (No. 14)
• 2nd (No. 45)
• 5th (No. 149)
• 5th (No. 167, comp)
• 5th (No. 169, comp)
• 5th (No. 174, comp)
• 6th (No. 192)
• 6th (No. 201, PHI)
• 7th (No. 230, DEN)

Notable Free Agents: 

• G Andrus Peat
• WR Michael Thomas*
• QB Jameis Winston*
• CB Isaac Yiadom
• LB Zack Baun
• S Johnathan Abram
• DT Malcolm Roach
• OL Cameron Erving

Top Three Needs

1 – Offensive Tackle

When the Saints drafted LT Trevor Penning in the first round two years ago, they expected to have the position solidified for at least five years. But Penning has missed significant time due to injuries and that’s always a tough setback for any young player to overcome, particularly when they’re considered projects to begin with. Now there’s long-term uncertainty too with RT Ryan Ramczyk due to a lingering knee injury that was described late last season as potentially career-threatening. 

It’s clear the Saints need some insurance at tackle. Quality veterans don’t usually make it to free agency but that would be the ideal alternative to give Penning a chance to put things together in his third season. The draft could be an option as well to get another layer of depth behind both Penning and Ramcyzk in case either falter, but a rookie is obviously much more of an unknown quantity than a veteran. 

2 – Defensive End

Saints DE Cameron Jordan is going to be back for another season but he turns 35 in July and had just two sacks last season despite playing all 17 games. It seems like the end could be coming soon for him. The Saints have a solid starter in DE Carl Granderson, but not much else beyond him and Jordan despite investing significant draft capital in the position.

Former first-round DE Payton Turner has played just 15 games in three seasons and has three sacks. Last year’s second-rounder Isaiah Foskey played just 83 snaps as a rookie. These were the players that were supposed to take over for Jordan at this point in their careers but they don’t seem up for the task. 

That leaves the Saints needing to dip back into the well to try and find help at edge rusher. The draft is always an option and the team desperately needs rookie deal contributors given the salary cap situation. But New Orleans also needs a known quantity at edge rusher as well. In recent years, there have been solid veteran edge rushers available deep into the summer, and the Saints could look to sign a player out of this pool on a one-year deal to shore up the position without completely closing the door on the younger options. 

3 – Wide Receiver

The relationship between the Saints and Thomas seems to have run its course, with the veteran wideout no longer productive enough on the field for the team to put up with his high-strung behavior. The Saints won’t be barren on offense without Thomas, as they have star WR Chris Olave as their No. 1 and explosive deep threat WR Rashid Shaheed who could do some damage with a bigger role. Last year’s sixth-round WR A.T. Perry also flashed in his opportunities late in the season after Thomas was injured. 

However, there’s room in the Saints’ pass-catching group for another big-time threat. Wide receiver has proven to be a premium position in recent years and some of the most successful teams have done well by pairing two guys who are good enough to be No. 1s on their own. Think Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in Miami. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in Philadelphia. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. It’s a long list, and the Saints could add their name to it. 

That’s also one of the best ways to maximize QB Derek Carr, as the veteran has shown throughout his career he’s at his best when he has a strong supporting cast to lean on. In a draft class that’s shaping up to be superb at the wideout position, the value could line up for the Saints to take a shot at pairing Olave with a talented running mate. 

One Big Question

Why should we expect anything different from the Saints in 2024?

Let me preface this by saying I’ve been a big fan of the Saints’ cap strategy for years. Because of the steady growth of the salary cap in the NFL, a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future because it represents a bigger percentage of the pie that every NFL team has to decide how to split. The Saints’ willingness to push out money via restructures has given them an edge, particularly when they had HC Sean Payton and QB Drew Brees.

However, I think GM Mickey Loomis and assistant GM Khai Harley made an error in judgment by doubling down on this strategy in a post-Brees/Payton world. That transition offered them a chance to reset, absorb the hit from the pandemic salary cap drop and find new core pieces to build around. Instead, they bet on continuity by promoting HC Dennis Allen from defensive coordinator, then chased Carr as an upgrade from the duo of Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston from Allen’s first year. 

The results have been underwhelming. New Orleans has been in the middle of the pack at 7-10 and 9-8 the past two seasons. They’ve missed the playoffs both years despite playing in the worst division in football. The defense has been a borderline top-ten unit but keeps showing its age. The offense statistically got better under Carr, but the gains were marginal and Carr’s contract is a huge anchor on an already stressed accounting book.

The Saints still chose to restructure Carr’s contract and lock him onto the roster for two more seasons. Now the hope seems to be new OC Klint Kubiak, one of the newest branches of the Shanahan coaching tree, will install his version of the system and turn Carr into a productive quarterback. Perhaps that will be the case, but Carr has always struggled in his first year in a new offense — last year being yet another example — and it’s also fair to wonder about the fit in the new scheme. 

One of the hallmarks of the Shanahan system is play-action passing. However, Carr has regularly ranked in the bottom third of the league in play-action attempts in multiple systems, suggesting perhaps it’s not something he likes to do as much. Play-action passing is viewed as a kind of easy button for NFL offenses because it’s so much more efficient, but Carr is often one of the least-efficient quarterbacks in the league off play-action. 

Those concerns don’t seem to be stopping the Saints from keeping as much of the band together as possible. The 2024 season will be Allen’s third year and Carr’s second.  I struggle to see anything that should inspire confidence that things for the Saints will be any different.