Are we really that far off from the top…. (21 Viewers)

[Outbackjack]

For those saying we are not desirable. Aging players. Lack of talent. Meddling GM….all the things I keep reading on here.

It’s like if you post it enough, everyone believes it as it continues to pound them over the head.

But…….am I’m sure many will shoot this down…..but……

We played 3 of the Championship week teams. Went 0-3. But….lets look closer.

Eagles: Short of a leak out to Dallas Goebert for about 60 yards, we win that game.

Chiefs: A inexcusable missed PI (not missed, just not called), we are right there ready to tie/take lead late in the game.

Redskins: We are a 2pt conversion from our 5th round rookie QB from winning.

And that’s the best the league has to offer.

Bottom line, we aren’t THAT FAR OFF from the top.

Getting a new coach, a leader, AND NOT SUFFERING CRUSHING INJURIES …..and we absolutely can get back in a season.

We were a play or two away from the best the league has just a few months ago

I know, you are what your record says you are…..but when you really look, it’s not as far a gap as people like to say.

 

[OzzieSaint]

It's the NFL. Every week anything can happen with any games
Limited injuries and a solid HC with buy in from the players is the first step towards success.

Look at the Commanders, the second worst team in the league, to the NFL Championship game.

 

[St. Geezy]

Exactly. People are making an error when associating “5-12” with this team; that 5-12 is fake and based off a team that had injuries across the board, and one of the worst head coaches to ever grace a NFL sideline.

We are an average at worst team, and all average teams are a couple of lucky breaks (off-season and/or in-game) from being in the thick of things.

Hit a homerun on the coaching front, get healthy, sign a few good contributor-type free agents, have a good draft, and we are right back in the mix for a potential 10-7/11-6 type season.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

Exactly. People are making an error when associating “5-12” with this team; that 5-12 is fake and based off a team that had injuries across the board, and one of the worst head coaches to ever grace a NFL sideline.

We are an average at worst team, and all average teams are a couple of lucky breaks (off-season and/or in-game) from being in the thick of things.

Hit a homerun on the coaching front, get healthy, sign a few good contributor-type free agents, have a good draft, and we are right back in the mix for a potential 10-7/11-6 type season.

To that end, Loomis was right when he suggested that he did not favor firing Allen mid-season due to the issues being more injury-related than coaching-related.

 

[No2DC]

Yes, we are. The problem with the DC analogy is that they have been bad for years, which means they have been acquiring a bunch of high-draft picks for years. Chase Young was the third pick in the draft, and they have multiple first-round draft picks on their D line. The same could be said for the Niners and Falcons, losing bad before a good coach allowed them to acquire top draft picks. That's the downside of these 9-9 type seasons.
The main question now is, are we capable of winning on a couple of draft classes like 2017? Do you trust Mick to do that?

 

[St. Geezy]

It's the NFL. Every week anything can happen with any games
Limited injuries and a solid HC with buy in from the players is the first step towards success.

Look at the Commanders, the second worst team in the league, to the NFL Championship game.

Yep. Turnarounds happen quickly in today’s game.

I think there is a faction of people that believe unless you’re competing for a 14-3 type year, homefield advantage, and on the cusp of having a sustained dynasty juggernaut, you’re wasting your time and are doomed.

 

[SuperSaint]

Six straight years of terrible drafts and questionable personnel moves.

If they can fix that, and age-out of these veteran contracts, they can be competitive in 2 years.

Don't see it happening next season, we have no money to spend in FA, and the same people who let Hendrickson and Baun leave because they didn't have the vision to utilize them properly are still running the show.

 

[platinumvinnyv]

It's the NFL. Every week anything can happen with any games
Limited injuries and a solid HC with buy in from the players is the first step towards success.

Look at the Commanders, the second worst team in the league, to the NFL Championship game.

And a Good QB

 

[OzzieSaint]

And a Good QB

Will have to draft one or have Moore set up a system to make it Derek Carr friendly before we can cut him.
I give us 3 years before we are back competing consistently again

 

[HogsNSaints]

I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility to be good in 2025, but it’s unlikely. The best players on the roster were showing their age this year and are only getting older.

I want to be wrong about 2025. I’d love for the team to click and win every game, but there comes a time when the team is going to have to realize the “win now” basket is not where their eggs need to go.

One of the major issues the Saints have had since Drew is that they’ve been bad but not bad enough. Derek Carr isn’t the guy. I think Rattler needs a chance to see if he can ascend. If he can’t, I would hope to not be in 9th pick purgatory forever and never get the QB the team needs.

 

[platinumvinnyv]

Six straight years of terrible drafts and questionable personnel moves.

If they can fix that, and age-out of these veteran contracts, they can be competitive in 2 years.

Don't see it happening next season, we have no money to spend in FA, and the same people who let Hendrickson and Baun leave because they didn't have the vision to utilize them properly are still running the show.

But DA was fired. as for GM I dont know but I always thought Loomis was not a traditional GM but an "Accountant" I thought he had very limited input on player decision or was that something reserve for Payton. I always Thought that was a benefit to coaching the saints is the Coach wouldn't have much interference from the top. I always felt if Payton/DA wanted a player bad enough we got them. We went after Carr like 50 mil over the cap

 

[St. Widge]

Yes, we are. The problem with the DC analogy is that they have been bad for years, which means they have been acquiring a bunch of high-draft picks for years. Chase Young was the third pick in the draft, and they have multiple first-round draft picks on their D line. The same could be said for the Niners and Falcons, losing bad before a good coach allowed them to acquire top draft picks. That's the downside of these 9-9 type seasons.
The main question now is, are we capable of winning on a couple of draft classes like 2017? Do you trust Mick to do that?

Mick isn't the question for that. The question is do you trust the new HC and Ireland to do that?

 

[The Unrest Cure]

To win in the NFL you cannot just be lucky: you have to be lucky AND good.

We were neither last year, so don't fool yourself into thinking a little luck makes us real competitors. The flip side to "almost" beating 3 contenders is, perhaps, those competitors were just a small amount of luck from blowing us out. Perhaps our luck was in keeping it close.

There haven't been any coaches here who have covered themselves in glory the past 2 1/2 years and it is unlikely any of them would have, regardless of our injury history.

 

[CantonLegend]

Love the optimism but the team is not good. There is a lot of work to do and we’ll have an entirely new system coming in. The team had a slew of injuries and it showed how fragile the depth really is. With healthy starters, we are borderline .500

 

[St. Widge]

Six straight years of terrible drafts and questionable personnel moves.

If they can fix that, and age-out of these veteran contracts, they can be competitive in 2 years.

Don't see it happening next season, we have no money to spend in FA, and the same people who let Hendrickson and Baun leave because they didn't have the vision to utilize them properly are still running the show.

Neither this team when it was good, nor any other good team really, was built on free agency. Free agency is there to fill holes created by bad drafting, to find a guy that you think puts you over the top from contender to Champion, or to poach guys that are backups on other teams on good deals because you think they can be stars for you. Cap space is there to sign the good players you drafted to second contracts or to occasionally get that one player that you think pushes you from contender to champion.

The first step for this team is to draft more guys that are worth giving 2nd contracts to and just generally building through the draft. And we need to add better coaching and talent evaluation to that so we don't let guys like Hendrickson and Baun go because of bad talent evaluation and/or not developing them into starters here.

I do think that we have an average roster that with good coaching and health could be a playoff team in the terrible NFC South at around 9-7. But, I think some of that talent is aging so we need to start drafting better now or that average roster won't last more than a year or two. Still we have a solid based to build on but we need to start building on that base with elite talent from the draft.