2021 - 19th in points scored (9-8 record)
That's the year after Brees retired. And yes, they had a lot of injuries and Winston got hurt in week 8, but Winston and Hill were Payton's hand picked successors to Brees and clearly the offense was middle of the road at best. That was also the case in Denver this year as they were 20th in points scored per game this season.
Payton is a great coach. But even Payton with his amazing level of arrogance and swagger realized that sometimes things need a refresh. In fact, that is part of why he is a great coach. And, I think at this point, his offense needs a refresh after producing below average results even the last two years that Payton ran it. Not to mention the results for the two years that Carmichael ran it. In fact Carmichael had it running better than Payton this year.