Loser: The Saints’ Five-Year Plan
Saints owner Gayle Benson, who took sole control of the team after her husband, Tom Benson, died in 2018, watched head coach Sean Payton and Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees gut out a 1-2 playoff record in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, the final act of the 15-year partnership that changed the fate of the franchise. Payton wanted out a year later, and Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis—who has been with the Bensons in the New Orleans front office since 2000—are on their second coach in five years since. They have zero playoff berths to show for it.
Benson said two weeks ago that the Saints’ standard wasn’t acceptable, and things don’t exactly look better after an ugly 16-10 loss to the zombie Steelers in the NFL’s first game in Paris, the designated territory for Benson’s Saints as the league continues to expand internationally.
The list of problems is extensive. Head coach Kellen Moore and his staff aren’t maximizing the few bright spots on the team. The defense under Brandon Staley continues to get burned. The bulk of the roster is laughably bad because Loomis has wasted resources by trading up for draft busts and by constricting cap maneuverability with contracts fat on void years. And worst of all, the Saints seem to be in denial about it: Loomis, for instance, is adamant that the lows they’re experiencing are growing pains often associated with young players and coaches.
“We have to make sure that the processes are right and that the development is correct, and then we’ll get the outcomes that we want and expect,” Loomis said last week. “But we’re a young team, a young, developing team, and we have to recognize that. I recognize that. We’ve got a young coach, 23 games into his career, and that’s where we’re at.”
What’s odd is that the Saints have one of the oldest rosters in the league (by snap-weighted age). Second-year quarterback Tyler Shough is going to be 30 on his next NFL contract. And while Moore did enter this week with only 23 games coached in the top job, he’s been a coordinator at the NFL level dating back to 2019. He isn’t that new.
Benson recently made it known that she isn’t happy with the Saints’ standard of play, and Loomis publicly dealt out blame pie to his coaches and players before the team dropped a dud in Paris. Moore and Staley certainly deserve fault, but they can only coach the players they’re dealt. Loomis is responsible for this staff and roster. If change is going to happen, it has to start with him.
