I imagine there’d have been a lot of handwringing had the FO blown it all up after Payton left.
“Why trade Kamara? He still had some years left” “Demario was so loved he did the pregame speeches!” “Cameron Jordan embodies what it means to be a Saint, why’d they cut him?” “Taysom is magic with the football in his hands, why give him away?” on and on and on, while floating a 3-win team full of castoffs and… well, who-dats.
Teams try to keep winning because everyone in the building enjoys winning. Fans say they’d be fine with some intentional losing. They are lying.