Rank the team's biggest impediments to success (1 Viewer)

[los226]

I personally don’t see anything positive about the organization right now. And your list pretty much sums that up.

It’s amazing how one man, Sean Payton, was the glue that held this all together.

 

[BreesusSaves]

The Head Coach.

The Head Coach has the vision, he's the guy that has to build the staff, the roster. He's the guy everyone sees every single day. You think it is normal for Kamara to see Loomis or Benson every day? You think Kubiak spends time discussing the offensive gameplan with Loomis or Benson?

When the right Head Coach is hired, it is alarming at how quickly things turn around.

Remember those helpless, hopeless Lions? Remember when everyone expected Campbell to be fired in two years? Campbell was 1-6 in his first 7 in year 2. Then he looked up at Death, bit his kneecaps off, and finished the year 8-2. Campbell is basically the most untouchable man in Detroit. He did the impossible. They're Super Bowl favorites. They're the last team you want to see on your schedule.

How about the Vikings. They sign Darnold for pennies after letting Cousins walk. Then they trade up one spot to grab JJ McCarthy. Then they redshirt McCarthy so they can start Sam freaking Darnold and then they win FOURTEEN games. Jets fans are on suicide watch while Darnold is smoking secondaries and cigars. Kevin O'Connell is basically considered to be QB development God now.

The Packers are 11-5 and because they're in the NFC North, are just third in their division. They had just one losing season with the owner of Average Joe's Gym as Head Coach and don't know what a losing record looks like after they got rid of their Hall of Fame QB. They can't keep getting away with it, right???? They have a clear vision and identity as a team and win and win and win. Who is the guy preaching the vision and goals? Motivating and holding the guys accountable?

The Commanders didn't have a winning season for seven straight seasons. They hired the guy who choked atlanta's best chance at a Lombardi but he actually learned from his past experiences. Now he's cruising with a clear vision and a franchise defining QB. They won 11 games in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year and could make it 12 if they don't take the week off against the Bears.

Here's a great example, the New Orleans Saints. Look at the Saints before Payton, during Payton, and now after Payton.

Having the right Head Coach is everything.

 

[Stalwart385]

1. Injuries - I don't know what the root of this is but following this team's offseason and then watching them during the season has been tiresome. Two totally different teams. One is a modestly competitive team that might have some spunk, the other is a bunch of guys off the street with names I feel like we grabbed out a hat from a charity lottery. Maybe just bad luck maybe bad culture, dunno. Fishy how crazy this hits repeatedly after Brees leaves though.

2. Roster - Goes back to injuries but it's hard to know who to build on when your young guys can't stay healthy. It's one thing to say it's due to an aging roster but those aging guys probably put in your highest snaps counts for your originally expected contributors. We might have to completely rebuild this young roster because some of their careers feel over before they started.

3. Coach - We haven't had a coach who can exceed his station. Just a guy who will give you what you expect from his roster or worse. And the roster has been a disaster.

4. Cap - The cap is in recovery mode from way back when we were pushing Brees and then Covid hit. They had more money to move last year but didn't because they realized this roster's future isn't looking good. So Loomis stopped asking Gayle to put money upfront (which is required for this pushback cap management). That made the roster thinner and more susceptible to injury. More a detrimental effect of the bad roster that makes it even worse. ie. Hard to invest in damaged goods. (Just like the Pels won't go in the luxury because crap like this keeps happening).

5. QB - It's the most important position in football by a long shot. Carr is the best QB we've had since Brees but he won't win you games in the 4th qtr. To be clear I'm fine with Carr but he's not good enough to overcome these kinds of deficiencies, I'd like to find a QB who can will you games in the 4th though. I don't think he's on the team yet, so keep rolling with Carr and keep looking. I just wish they would have begun this search in earnest sooner.

 

[bayoumilitia]

If Saints are sold, they "will" leave NOLA! T. Ferttita is a winner, and a truly class act.... would not tolerate what we are seeing.....and could easily (if he buys team) move them to San Antonio!

Ummm, I don’t think that the NFL and the other 31 owners would necessarily sign off on a new owner or ownership group moving the team imo. Yea, we are almost 20 years removed from Katrina but there’s still optics and believe me the NFL is concerned about public opinion.

More importantly, the Saints proved that when they won they could generate revenue and TV viewership and they did. Go back and look at the TV ratings when the Saints were on a roll from 2006-2017. They had some of the highest rated/most watched games each week, which equals revenue.

In addition, Ms. Gayle can want to sell the franchise to someone but it has to be approved by the other owners (see the Broncos). Times have changed, if you don’t think that Louisiana doesn’t have enough people with enough resources to form an ownership group to try to put an offer together to buy the Saints then you’re underestimating the current landscape. I’m not saying he would but Todd Graves (the owner of Raisin Cane’s) according to Forbes is the 107th richest person in the US and is worth an estimated $9.5 Billion by himself. He’s an LSU alumni, not sure if he’s a Saints fan.

Once again, I’m not saying that would happen but let’s just say if Ms Benson wanted to sell the team I believe that the NFL and the other 31 owners/groups would open up the bidding to a person or a group that would want to keep the franchise here in New Orleans.

 

[Chinese bandits]

I think I would wait another year to blow it up. Gonna have 70 million in dead cap next year. So at a major disadvantage already. No quarterbacks in draft where we gonna be. Keep everything, go 1-16 draft qb number 1 overall. Get out of cap he** rebuild.

 

[Boy_of_wonder75]

Lack of depth
Injuries
Lack of an explosive playmaker on either side of the ball.

 

[solarbear88]

Loomis' drafting
Loomis' contracts
Loomis' coach signings

 

[Iceebear]

1. Mindset
The primary reason many fans want a new GM or coach outside of the Payton coaching tree stems from a fear of organizational complacency. This franchise has too often relied on strategies and tactics that worked in the past but are now outdated. For years, the Saints have struggled because they clung to methods that no longer align with the modern NFL. Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War, particularly the chapter “The Guerilla-War-of-the-Mind Strategy: Do Not Fight the Last War,” perfectly captures this issue. To move forward, the Saints must embrace innovation and adaptability.

2. Decision Makers
There’s a clear need for structural reform from the team president to the head coach. The organization seems bloated with decision-makers—former GMs, potential GMs, and others—yet no one leaves; instead, more people are added. This raises a critical question: if the roster lacks talent, why does the scouting team continue to escape scrutiny? Accountability needs to be a priority across the board, and that starts with evaluating and streamlining the leadership structure.

3. Culture
The Saints’ culture has become a barrier to progress. Mickey Loomis’s reluctance to part ways with Dennis Allen, the routine extensions for aging players, and the hesitancy to trade talent all point to an organization that prioritizes loyalty over results. While loyalty has its place, the Saints must stop managing the team like a family and start running it as a business. Tough decisions are necessary to build a winning culture.

 

[Taurus]

1. Injuries.
2. Culture (which contributes to injuries)
3. Penalties/Mistakes (part of culture)
4. Carry over from extending Brees/Payton window

Before we lost nearly all the starting WRs, we curbstomped the first two games. There's talent here, it's just always on the bench.

 

[sfidc3]

The bulk of bad decisions that got us to this point were either made directly by the FO, or someone the FO hired.....

I have hope for Gayle because at least she took it upon herself to do the right thing with DA....hopefully she does the same and takes ML out of the important decision making going forward, we will see....

 

[HouseCall]

The Saints spent too many years trying to be reactive rather than proactive from a front office strategy.

Loomis and Payton hit on a draft grand slam in 2017 that completely and almost overnight rejuvenated a stagnant perpetual middle of the road team (21-27 record from 2014-16).

So the mission then became to keep pieces around our first ballot HOF QB in an effort to win another SB or two.

And it should have worked…. We know why it didn’t.

However, now we are seeing the rebound effect of that philosophy.

As soon as Brees officially retired, Loomis should have shifted gears to trying to replenish the core of young affordable talent on the roster.

When Payton resigned, he should have kicked that plan into overdrive and allowed a new coach with a new philosophy to come in and steer the overhaul.

Instead, we all lost 3 years on a futile attempt to delay the inevitable and piecemeal a competitive team together with the fragments of Sean Payton’s staff.

Now we get to sit for the next 2-3 years and watch our team toil in the basement of the league and attempt to strip a rotten house to the studs and fix cracks in the foundation.

And by the time it’s underway, the NFC South will likely be cycling back to competitive division again and it’ll be even harder to gain a foothold.

The top issue is Loomis.

Everything else is a symptom.

 

[VPCajun]

What do you think is holding this team back in order from biggest issue to least. I don't mean holding it back from being a SB contender because that is so far off it's not even within the realm of possibility for years. You need an elite QB for that. I just mean getting back to being a competent franchise on the upswing.

For me:

1. Front Office - Loomis is totally delusional, egotistical and washed. Game has passed him by 5-6 years ago.
2. Ownership - Gayle seems nice but she has no clue and is surrounded by sycophants.
3. Salary Cap hell - This could probably be lumped under Front Office.
4. Draft strategy - Also probably could roll up under Front Office. Ultra aggressive and losing trades.
5. Head coach - No elite or even above average tacticians on this staff. Some rah rahs and has beens and several never weres.
6. QB - Carr is mediocre and a terrible leader. He's the perfect 7-10 QB. As stated before, you eventually will need to find the next elite QB, but I think the above structural and philosophy changes need to come first.
7. Roster - It's not good but rosters can be flipped over fast if you fix the first 5.

Gayle is going nowhere, so we have to hope she decides to dump Loomis and gets a new GM that understands the modern NFL.

8. Lousy fans.

So Sayeth Loomis

 

[Stalwart385]

I find it interesting that some are so angry and desperate to blame someone that they won't even put injuries in the reasons we failed.

 

[MarylandWHODAT]

 

[Bill]

1. Injuries - I don't know what the root of this is but following this team's offseason and then watching them during the season has been tiresome. Two totally different teams. One is a modestly competitive team that might have some spunk, the other is a bunch of guys off the street with names I feel like we grabbed out a hat from a charity lottery. Maybe just bad luck maybe bad culture, dunno. Fishy how crazy this hits repeatedly after Brees leaves though.

2. Roster - Goes back to injuries but it's hard to know who to build on when your young guys can't stay healthy. It's one thing to say it's due to an aging roster but those aging guys probably put in your highest snaps counts for your originally expected contributors. We might have to completely rebuild this young roster because some of their careers feel over before they started.

3. Coach - We haven't had a coach who can exceed his station. Just a guy who will give you what you expect from his roster or worse. And the roster has been a disaster.

4. Cap - The cap is in recovery mode from way back when we were pushing Brees and then Covid hit. They had more money to move last year but didn't because they realized this roster's future isn't looking good. So Loomis stopped asking Gayle to put money upfront (which is required for this pushback cap management). That made the roster thinner and more susceptible to injury. More a detrimental effect of the bad roster that makes it even worse. ie. Hard to invest in damaged goods. (Just like the Pels won't go in the luxury because crap like this keeps happening).

5. QB - It's the most important position in football by a long shot. Carr is the best QB we've had since Brees but he won't win you games in the 4th qtr. To be clear I'm fine with Carr but he's not good enough to overcome these kinds of deficiencies, I'd like to find a QB who can will you games in the 4th though. I don't think he's on the team yet, so keep rolling with Carr and keep looking. I just wish they would have begun this search in earnest sooner.