How long should a successful rebuild take? (13 Viewers)

[Infoman]

As other have said... a successful rebuild should take no more than 3 seasons.... which is why we should have started 3 seasons ago

 

[Bill]

Bengals fans will tell you it takes more than just the right QB.

Frankly I'm in the group that believes it takes a lot more than just finding the next 'Drew Brees'. While Drew definitely made his supporting cast better, there's no way this team would have been at the top of their game for so long if he only had our current roster to work with.

 

[504gks]

There's been a lot of talk around here about wanting the Saints to do a complete rebuild of the team so that the fans can once again have a team that we can all be proud of. But you're probably asking, "How long to do what?" True, what is considered a successful rebuild by one fan can be quite different from another. If you're wanting to reshuffle the cards in hopes of a royal flush you can't reasonably expect to get that hand as quickly as you might get a full house.

For conversation purposes we'll just add into the equation the goal of being better than the 4th Seed in the NFL playoffs. Let's face it, in today's NFL it's not unusual for the 4th Seed in the playoffs to still be a pretty mediocre ball club if they got there simply because they happened to be in a division where every team in it is a dumpster fire. We've seen in some case where the 5th, 6th, & 7th seeded wildcard teams are much better than the winner of the worst division in the conference.

So the question is, 'How long should it take a team who is rebuilding at every key position to become one of the top three seeded teams in your conference playoffs on a regular basis?' And as a bonus discussion, 'Who has the primary role of fielding a team that is capable of achieving that goal on a consistent basis?'

Is it reasonable to assume that such a goal could be reached fairly quickly?

Our last good draft was 2017- its gonna be a while

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Good Question.

The last rebuild we had prior to this one was 2015, 2016, 2017. That 2017 class added star power but Andrus Peat, PJ Williams, Onyemata, Rankins, and Michael Thomas came from the prior two.

I believe our latest reset started after the Olave/Penning draft class. So 23, 24, and 25 are being used to build a new nucleus.

We need to hit on this 25 draft class, more capital and a higher pick in each round will help

 

[504gks]

So theoretically the Saints could be 'Cleveland' forever.

its depends if u look at the results

 

[RJS]

Bengals fans will tell you it takes more than just the right QB.

They went to the Super Bowl in Burrow's second year followed by a 12-4 season. It takes more than the right QB but you can't really do it without the right QB.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

As other have said... a successful rebuild should take no more than 3 seasons.... which is why we should have started 3 seasons ago

You're right, we should have but that 2022 class was supposed to put us back on the map. We needed to replace Ted Ginn, so we got Olave and we needed to replace Armstead so we nabbed Penning. They thought that we would get back to the playoffs that year w/ a little tweak. Jameis got hurt and the wheels fell off. So they didn't truly decide to do a soft reset until 2023, making this 2025 draft class important.

 

[Infoman]

You're right, we should have but that 2022 class was supposed to put us back on the map. We needed to replace Ted Ginn, so we got Olave and we needed to replace Armstead so we nabbed Penning. They thought that we would get back to the playoffs that year w/ a little tweak. Jameis got hurt and the wheels fell off. So they didn't truly decide to do a soft reset until 2023, making this 2025 draft class important.

For sure... Bad drafts, Bad Coaching hires, and Bad QB choices definitely setback the "reload" post ~2020... I think a that point... a true rebuild should have occurred.... it did not.

 

[Bill]

Good Question.

The last rebuild we had prior to this one was 2015, 2016, 2017. That 2017 class added star power but Andrus Peat, PJ Williams, Onyemata, Rankins, and Michael Thomas came from the prior two.

I believe our latest reset started after the Olave/Penning draft class. So 23, 24, and 25 are being used to build a new nucleus.

We need to hit on this 25 draft class, more capital and a higher pick in each round will help

I love having the extra picks. But this is where talent evaluation is at a premium. If we don't strike gold with a few of these extra selections, it doesn't make the future look very promising.

 

[3ParStillDriver]

It really depends on how good the coach is. Believe it or not, the Vikings are in a "rebuild year" and look at what they're doing. Its a testament to Kevin O'Connell. Sean Payton's rebuild years had us in the NFC Championship his first year and superbowl win 3 years later with some in between "growth". The Chiefs "rebuild" years were making the playoffs as soon as Andy Reid first got there.

Then look at the Jets and Browns, who have been in a rebuild year since the 90's. Raiders have been rebuilding since Gruden first left, and nearly had it rebuilt when he left a second time, and immediately went back to rebuilding the last many years.

In a nutshell, what I'm saying, is with good coaching and front office there really is no such thing as a rebuild year. You're always competitive. If a coach is struggling year 1 to win half their games, odds are that they will continue to struggle to break .500 their entire career as HC.

This is why I'm down on Loomis. GM for nearly 20 years, and he had the idea that he could be a competitive team with Dennis Allen, and couldn't even recognize that he wouldn't be after two years with him. That's a big sign of a bad GM. Head Coach is more important then any player on the field. And if you look at the Bengals who are stacked with talent offensively, you can argue that Head Coach is more important then any group of great players.

 

[504gks]

Our last good draft was 2017- its gonna be a while

Plus u have to have QB or team, We have neither unless the Ratt works out

 

[WilliamBrees]

3 years. Payton did it twice. He started in 2006 and won it all in 2009. They again tore it down in 2014 and was elite by 2017/8. The problem is the QB position.

I wasn't aware there was a rebuild in 2014. They signed Jairus Byrd.

 

[WilliamBrees]

Can this team win again without a true rebuild? I suppose that's a very important factor in where we go from here.

Given we're in the NFC South, yes

 

[WilliamBrees]

Bengals fans will tell you it takes more than just the right QB.

Believe it or not, the Bengals still have a shot. Slim I know.

 

[Moon]

3 years. Payton did it twice. He started in 2006 and won it all in 2009. They again tore it down in 2014 and was elite by 2017/8. The problem is the QB position.

LOL, 2014 wasn't a teardown---we were in the divisional playoffs the year before and lost to the eventual champs, why would a decision be made to tear it down after that? Brees still had our offense in the top 8 or 9, the defense just fell apart. Greer had to retire, Keenan Lewis & Delvin Breaux were hurt, we bet the farm on defensive free agents that didn't work (Bryd, Paul Kruger, Dannell Ellerbe). Payton & Loomis weren't about to get rid of everyone while Brees was still top 5.