What to expect moving forward

Andrus said

IMO, Dennis Lauscha is reasonable, highly intelligent, and manages the organization rather quietly in the background. He is someone that understands that ego can be a liability so you don't see that in him. He is also the actual boss of this organization. I have a lot of respect for Lauscha, and I am sure that he is well aware of most of what is going on within the organization. I am confident that if things go badly he will do what has to be done in order to right the ship, whatever that entails. I don't think that anyone is immune to being kicked to the curb other than Lauscha... that is, aside from Gayle, of course.

Speaking of which... Gayle didn't sign up for being criticized, doesn't deserve it, and isn't accustomed to it, so if things go south next season and too much mud starts being slung in her direction from the fan base it would be interesting to see what might come as a result. Hopefully the Saints are highly successful and that doesn't happen.

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I want to agree with you about Lauscha, and that's what I want to think about him. He does seem like a humble guy, with a calm demeanor and a long term, non knee-jerk reaction, vision for the future. I know that Tom Benson, trusted him explicitly. When I say that I'm trying to read between the lines, there are things said along the lines of, "there's a contingent that thinks that Payton and Brees received too much credit". That implies that it's more than just Loomis that thinks this. And there's speculation about a power struggle after Tom died that caused Payton to think he was either being squeezed out or having less input on the direction of the team, which was part of the reason that he wanted to move on. Then there's the thoughts of the current leadership removing players who may have Payton loyalty and not buying into Dennisball. If Gayle is not especially active in running the teams, according to things that have been said, then that leaves people at the top of the organizaton. I don't think that is really a criticism of her. I hope that she is enjoying her life. It's speculation that makes it seem like she's good with leaving the guys that Tom trusted to make decisions and run the sports franchises.

Lauscha is the top guy. If he has Loomis's ear, then that seems like the "contingent" might include him (absolutely speculation on my part). If you look at the other top people, who would have the power to have the influence of trying to recreate a culture that is similar to Payton and Brees to prove that it wasn't Payton and Brees who created winning culture, that it was the "front office" and a GM who is "HOF worthy"? Who else would have that kind of influence? It's not Jeff Ireland because it looks like he might be the next one to be squeezed out. Who does that leave? Harley? Bensel? Stanfield? Ben Hales? Do any of them actually have the power to change culture?

I haven't seen anything that implies differently about Lauscha, so like I said, that is pure speculation and process of elimination on my part. I hope that you're right and that he sees what is happening and will make extremely tough adjustments if that time comes.