The state of the Saints franchise and Brady, Brees, and Manning (1 Viewer)

[21counterZ-trap]

This is not a post where I try to tackle the Brady/Brees/Manning debate but, with Brees often being mentioned in the same conversation as Brady and Manning, I accidentally began thinking about a pleasant realization and what the 3 franchises themselves have in common.

In short, first let me say that Manning and Brady play for two of the most stable and well-run franchises in the NFL. With what's been happening in New Orleans over the last 3 yrs, Im beginning to think it may be possible that the Saints are heading in this direction as well.

Im not saying that Manning, Brady, and Brees aren't worthy of the credit they're given. It's no coincidence that the fact that the Colts have been one of the winningest teams in the league over the last decade happens to coincide chronologically with Manning's career in the league. Im also not saying the New England could have plugged just any quarterback in and would still have won the multiple Super Bowls that they've won but, if Manning, Brady or Brees for that matter, were playing most of their careers for franchises that were in the state that say Oakland and Detroit have been in recently, well, they're still good QBs but they wouldn't be held in as high regard as they are now nor would they be having the careers they're having now because no Qb can get it done without the right support in place. (obviously)

What the Colts and Patriots have done is a lot of things right over the last several years. The Colts have drafted well, managed to keep their very fine OC on their staff during this whole run and have just been a very stable organization. NE has maybe the best coach in the business, has done a great job evaluating talent and managing the cap and all those other things that they do that you always hearing about.

At the risk of being overly optimistic, I see signs of the Saints heading in this direction. I have to give Payton most of the credit for this. He's brought competency and professionalism to the head coaching job and it seems to be trickling up and down throughout the whole organization. Im not sure if talent evaluation is Loomis' forte or how much he's actually involved in that end of things but he does a fine job with the cap. The Saints had excellent drafts in 2006 and 2008 and a tremendous last offseason in regards to adding key players. Not to mention Vilma and Shockey the previous year. Sean Payton needs a Qb with Drew Brees' attributes for his offense to click on all cylinders, and in turn Drew Brees thrives in his type of offense, so, there a match made for each other much like Manning and his OC. Maybe just as impressive as anything is, how the team stayed together the last 2 years after going 7-9, and 8-8. You didn't hear of any finger pointing, turmoil in the lockerroom, and you never saw the team play like they were beaten before the game was over.No one quit and everyone remained positive. It's the kind of culture that somewhat resembles what New England has and it's a by-product of the strong leadership of Payton, Brees, and probably a handful of other players.

Looking back, the 7-9 and 8-8 seasons of 2007-08 were a disappointment to most but only because their expectation were probably over inflated after magically going 10-6 in '06 with a team that was in a very depleted state after 2005. What's happening so far this year is the culmination of what's been brewing for the last 3 yrs in terms of adding talent and player development as well as Sean Payton himself continuing to improve each year at his own job.

Im hoping we're entering a Golden Era of Saints football and if everything turns out right, Drew Brees will be forever in the conversation with Brady and Manning.

 

[Saintman2884]

Good, well-thought out post, counter-trap. The only thing I don't want to see is that we don't have a Tuck-Rule-like game where we're on the bad end of the call, we end up losing in OT in the Divisional or Conference Championship Round, Sean Payton does a Jon Gruden and goes to another SB contender and we end up on the short end yet again.

I'm not saying we're similar to the 99, 2000, 2001 Raiders under Jon Gruden that came so close to being SB bound but by bizarre circumstances lost their huge initial momentum and ended up skidding out into obscurity at the very end.

But we have a team that's similar to those Raiders teams under Gruden. Great offense but struggling defense for a couple of years, a hot up-and-coming HC, he gets more balance on defense and they have some great seasons but end up oh so close to the SB.

And when they do finally make it, the architect of that team is gone and someone else replaces him but we still end up losing big.

That's not a scenario I want, especially if we had worked so hard to get to that point only to eventually fall short at the very end. To be an almost NFL dynasty and be seen only as a very good NFL team by NFL observers 10-15 years from now. There have been a lot "very good" NFL teams throughout NFL's history, but dynasties, if not multiple SB winning team have that edge, that aura, that aggressive approach, if not displaying a sense of confidence borderline on arrogance, that makes them notables instead of mere footnotes. The Greatest Show on Turf Rams were seen for a time as the new NFL dynasty 8-9 years ago, but now their seen as a great team but failing to be like New England has become. Sure Mike Martz was no Bill Belichek or Dick Vermiel, but if he had used that great talent he had more wisely and not been so rash, he might have accomplished far more then he ended up doing. The last great Rams team under Mike Martz was in 2003 and their great run ended in many respects with a Double OT loss to Carolina in St. Louis. They were never the same after the game.

 

[21counterZ-trap]

Yes well, the NFL's can be a strange league in terms of how quickly teams rise and fall to and from the top but I can't help but think that we have a nice run in us for the next several years. Not because we're young, because I think player for player we're one of the older teams but, the formula's in place and I personally think Brees has many good years left in him. By the nature of the offense and his quick decisions, he doesn't take the pounding some quarterbacks take and his strengths are his accuracy and what's between his ears and I would think those are two of the last things to go. We do need to start holding on to our draft picks however.

 

[Saint Jeremy]

One thing I think is very important. It's not just the premier positions/players that are being upgraded. We upgraded our long snapper and traded up in the draft to get a new punter. I think SP is a very smart coach and he works well with Loomis and Benson signs the checks. It takes a coach, GM and owner that want it to work. I think the Saints have that and with Brees, this could be the start of a stretch of very good years.