Same here. I've lived outside of NOLA for 40 years. I got DTV as soon as I bought a house and put up with the rain fade and high prices just so I could have Sunday Ticket and watch my Saints every Sunday. But the picture quality and DVR were good and I loved watching other out of market games. Fast forward a few years ago, I moved and was able to get my kids to sign up for ST student streaming for me. Now that YouTubeTV has ST, I can go back to the good old days when those games are part of my regular TV setup - with DVR, all in one app - and enjoy any game I want to watch.
I realize I am lucky to be able to afford this and I know everyone cannot. But I seriously doubt the NFL will every remove most games/playoff games from free TV. It's how they build the enterprise they have today.