The undesirable but most likely reality.
I listened to Underhill’s pod on Saturday and I think the biggest point he made was the one that gets brushed under the rug.
The casual fan want DA to be fired to punish him as the singular scapegoat for all the Saints problems.
I’m in no way endorsing DA, and I I know NO ONE wants to hear what Mickey said (look beyond the results) but I’m looking at it from a business perspective.
It’s not DA’s fault the cap is in shambles (and it is), it’s not DAs fault that his highest priced players are mostly ineffective, aging vets because we are forced to push salary out and only a small part (I’m sure he had input but no real control) of the draft failures are his fault.
What I’m setting up to say is a new coach won’t change much and a good coach won’t take this job.
You have the tear down and clean up before you get to the rebuild. NU pointed out it will take up to 3 years to clean the cap up because we can’t simply cut all the high priced vets, we will have to push money out just to get under the cap, like we do every single season ($80 plus million over next season)
My point is, I’m deducting that they would be fine keeping DA as long as they can to continue the tear down/clean up portion to make this a desirable job before bringing in a top coaching prospect.
Solid points but the cap and injuries aren’t the only thing plaguing the Saints. It’s the lack of a winning culture, pride, effort, energy and execution. Teams often take on the personality of their coach and I think it’s safe to say that DAs approach, demeanor and reaction to the 5 game losing streak says it all. Post game comments like “we all have to do better”, “we did a poor job tackling and we hurt ourselves”, “we will have to look at the tape”, don’t exactly scream urgency. When a head coach talks about cleaning up mistakes and the basics that is a direct reflection of the coaching staff.
As for the cap implications it’s Khai Hartley that’s been the guy bailing us out over the last 7-8 years with dead money and bad contracts that were all put in place by ML or SP.
It’s just my opinion but I think that ML, DL, DA and the majority of the front office and coaching staff needs to go. I’d promote Khai Hartley to GM and let him interview guys like Kubiack or Bieniemy for HC. I would also seriously consider trading guys like Kamara, Lattimore, Demario to teams that are current contenders to get the best value/draft picks for them now. It won’t clear their dead money but it will eventually pay off cap wise in time and help us rebuild through the draft and FA.
I know that might sound insane but it’s just my opinion that we need a similar approach to the post Katrina rebuild. Let Hartley find a younger, innovative offensive minded HC that has an offensive vision that fits with the current NFL rules that are in place that completely favor the offense.
We need our GM and new coach that are on the same page and want to establish a culture of winning, excellence, and pride. We need a HC that has an edge about him, energy, passion, fire and the ability to find, draft, coach and relate to the current generation of players and knows how to get the maximum production out of his players.
Just like SP found his QB and leader we need a new head coach to find his guy, probably through the draft tbh. I know some people thought that DA found his DB in Carr but honestly this current roster wasn’t built to win as DA has suggested. It’s more of an environment, cultural and attitude that needs a reset and rebuild.
Who honestly thinks that our current FO and HC can do that? Does anyone believe that our recent lack of success in the draft and FA are just coincidence or luck? I’m sorry but our scouting, our FA signings and draft picks haven’t exactly matched what we have needed for a while. Yes, we have occasionally hit here or there with some players but tbh we have groomed more players from the past several years and have failed to resign them and watch those players have success with another team then players we have drafted or brought in to make up for the production we lost.
To quote SP, “I’ll say this”, we are not a franchise that is 1 or 2 players away from winning a SB and yes I know that cleaning out the FO, coaching staff and players will not immediately produce results. Even SP and DB took a few years to win a SB.
Anyways Ive rambled enough lol. I’m sure I’ll be bombed for this post but it’s just my opinion