What to expect moving forward
Regarding Sean Payton feeling that he was not wanted in New Orleans, that was never my impression. I always thought that Loomis and Payton were personal friends, and that the organization did its best to convince Payton to stay after the 2021 season. And I simply find it incredible that anyone would think that Dennis Allen and Sean Payton were on the same level and might actually favor the former as the team's head coach. However, I readily concede I am just speculating and have no idea what has been taking place inside the Saints organization.
I also have no idea who might have made up a "contingent" who believed Payton received too much credit and they were responsible for a successful culture, especially if Jeff Ireland was not one of them. If true--and I have no idea--this organization is truly a dysfunctional mess.
Same here....I'm right there with you. Saints org has historically been notoriously leak-proof....so when information DOES leak, you question whether it's "real" information or whether the organization leaked it to control the narrative. OTOH....I've always said to ignore what people SAY and pay attention to what they DO. Words are lies, but actions are always the truth. So all we've got left is empirical evidence to consider....the ACTIONS of the Saints org.
We all look at the DA regime and see the handwriting on the wall, and KNOW how this ends....we've seen it with every HC the Saints have ever had, except CSP who left on his own terms. Even Jim Mora, the 2nd most successful HC in Saints history, eventually got swamped by the familiar ending. Unless something DRASTIC and UNFORSEEN happens, it's coming....and we all see it. So I ask myself why the organization doesn't see it? Why are they doubling down on an obvious mis-judgement, and failing to correct for what NEEDS to be done to get back to elite status? They can't possibly believe that "more of the same" will somehow yield a different result, can they? And yet here we are.
The actions haven't been fully revealed yet, so all I have to go on are past actions. PC was a very successful OC under CSP for 16 seasons....now that CSP is gone, he is suddenly incompetent? I'll buy the argument that he was an extension of CSP.....but it then extrapolates that he became an extension of DA and called the offensive philosophy that DA preferred. DA hired PC to be the OC, because offense wasn't DA's expertise (a reasonable strategy), but then seems to have handcuffed PC with an offensive mandate that contradicted PC's experience and expertise under CSP. PC seems to have been the sacrificial lamb for doing what DA instructed him to do. And yet, DA is "safe".
One of our best offensive players, AK41, has been vocal about offensive & team issues the entire season. That doesn't indicate a problem with "learning to gel", but seems to indicate something larger. Now we're hearing (perhaps truthful, perhaps not?) there was a contingent of malcontents in the locker room who are disgruntled with the "team processes" that are NOT leading to victories. They are being labled as "CSP loyalists" like it's a bad thing; when, in fact, these are CORE players on the team who are USED TO winning, and know what winning looks like....and THIS ain't it. These CORE players and team leaders are attempting to address the issue, but they don't run the team and there's only so much that a subservient player can do against his coach. DA was hired to maintain "continuity of culture", and these players are telling us that culture is NOT being maintained. We are now hearing (perhaps truthful, perhaps not?) that some of these players may be traded in order to restore locker room harmony? WTH? Why are these players being labled as "malcontents", instead of listening to their feedback?! Since when do you rid your roster of some of your arguably "best players" in order to "create buy-in" to the HC with a career losing record, AND a franchise losing record? Since when are these players' Saints careers in jeopardy, but DA is "safe"?
I see that DA as HC is a problem....and my take isn't unique. But it's becoming apparent that DA isn't the REAL problem....he's just a symptom of that problem. The REAL problem, is a GM who doubles down on his HC selection to "maintain continuity of culture", and yet states that he believes that culture has "slipped some" and that "maybe things are too comfortable" and wants to make things uncomfortable again. If that isn't an admission of a failed hire, I don't know what one is?! DA hasn't "maintained culture" and I'm not sure he even knows what to do to address that; and if he has an idea, I'm not sure he has the decisiveness to take action until he is forced to take action. So the GM solution is to float the idea of trading "CSP loyalists", labeled as "malcontents who aren't buying into the DA program".....some of our team leaders and historically best players....so that DA is "unopposed" in the locker room. RUFKM? These actions indicate to me that the GM is part of the problem, if not the REAL problem.
At this point, failure to correct the HC situation and the threat of trading core players/team leaders to protect the failed HC is just "throwing good money after bad". A good GM should know when to stay the course, and when to cut your losses. It seems our GM is demonstrating that CSP was indeed the straw that stirred the drink in NO. And I'll be the first to acknowledge that maybe it was the synergy of the TEAM of Saints officials. But if the GM can't sustain that success when 1 guy leaves, then the GM is the problem; bring back the 1 guy (not necessarily the exact SAME guy, but a similar guy who performs a similar role). It's become obvious to me that BOTH the GM and HC need to go. I'm still watching to determine if the problem extends above the GM....and if so, how far?
Will Lauscha take action to "fix" the franchise? Or will he allow it to continue? If the latter....he needs to go to. If he is "safe", I guess we're looking at ownership? If that's the case, we have a REAL problem. By all accounts, Mrs. Benson is a figurehead owner, with a real laissez-faire approach. Which isn't necessarily a problem if you have "football people" running the show for you. I don't know much about Mrs. Benson, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't have the "business background" that Tom Benson had; and I'm willing to bet she has even less knowledge about sports in general, and football in particular. This isn't a "woman observation", but a "time observation". Even with his formidable "business background", it took Tom Benson MANY years to get "good" at the ownership thing. He was smart to hire Jim Finks to run things on his behalf, and stay in the background for money/business decisions. When Finks passed, the franchise deteriorated quickly in the hands of Kuharich, until Benson had to step in again and replace Kuharich with Mueller, and then replace Mueller with Loomis. I think Mr. Benson made a slightly better choice each time he selected a new GM. No reason Mrs. Benson can't do the same....I only question how much time she has to "get good at picking football people" to run her franchise. Hopefully, it doesn't run that high. For now, replace the GM who is repeatedly doubling down on questionable personnel decisions, busting the cap on a regular basis, and incessantly trading away draft assets that could potentially fix 2 of the 3 problems; and I think the replacement of the HC will follow. If that doesn't happen reasonably soon, I fear the "franchise rot" runs even higher up. JMO...