Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

We desperately need an influx of cheap contracts. The higher we draft then the higher the quality of talented players that we have to choose from. We've been snake bit this year with injuries, suspensions, relocating during the hurricane and also Covid. I never want to lose a game but at some point option #1 looks more and more like the answer.

I haven't totally given up, but I'm mentally prepared for the rest of the year to look like what's been happening the last five games. I'm still a die hard fan! Just more of a realist as the year unfolds.

However, Sean Payton will never accept a losing season. So he would probably vote for option #2.

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

Along those lines - slot salaries for top 5 draft picks aren't cheap (unless we trade down).

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

I don't think there's any doubt Payton or anyone else associated with the Saints would choose #1. There is no guarantee that the top five pick will be a difference maker. As JP has pointed out in the past, successful picks can come from anywhere in the draft. However, I cannot imagine spending the off-season coming off a ten game losing streak which losing the final five games would accomplish. You know the old saying, you attract more bees with honey than vinegar. Or in other words, you attract more good free agents with a five game winning streak than a ten game losing streak.

But, to each his own. I'm just curious about the take of others.

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

Depends on several factors. In losing out, were they competitive in the games? Did Kamara, all the Oline, D line players that have been out come back and play the 5 games and they lose badly, or are they playing third stringers at most positions and lose out? Does Kamara come back for a game or two but aggravates his injury?

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

I wish I could read this article without dropping the bucks.

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

At some point, the bad luck has to stop.

At some point, there is nothing else to take away, and the dark cloud hovering over this team has to move on to another location.

The Saints aren’t just snake bitten. They’re in serious danger of getting eaten by the snake. Every day something new happens to this team to continue the run of bad luck, and it is starting to get to the point where it feels like there is nothing else to take away.

If being down three defensive ends wasn’t already bad enough, Cam Jordan tested positive for Covid-19 and will likely miss this week’s game against the New York Jets, which means Carl Granderson and Jalyn Holmes will be the top defensive ends available for the game if Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner do not return from injuries.

And in other bad news, Deonte Harris was officially suspended for his offseason arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and will not be allowed to play until Week 17. So, a team already lacking weapons is losing its best and most explosive wide receiver at a time when every game is now one the team must win.

On top of all of that, Taysom Hill is fighting a finger injury that might or might not prevent him from playing quarterback this week. If he manages to have a good week of practice and his finger responds well enough to allow him to maintain his grip on the job, he’ll have to make sure it doesn’t become an issue when playing in the cold conditions up in New York against the Jets this week.

Add that to the fact that we’ll all be watching to see if Alvin Kamara, Ryan Ramczyk and Terron Armstead return to action this week, and it makes sense that many fans are now asking questions about the path forward. They want to know if it is time to start playing for the future, if it is time to see what Ian Book is capable of doing at quarterback and whether or not it makes sense to keep winning since the Super Bowl feels out of reach and winning only hurts the team’s draft position.

The thought process isn’t without merit. New Orleans just lost five games in a row, and a top-10 pick in the draft seems far more attainable than being one of the NFC’s final seven teams. But the fact is, the Saints exist in a bit of a purgatory right now. The teams ahead of them in the NFC standings are 6-6, which is one game better than New Orleans.

So, no, the Saints aren’t going to tank. The playoffs are right there, and the team isn’t going to quit or pack it in until there is nothing left to play for, and even then, it will probably keep fighting. That’s simply how this organization operates.

On the outside looking in, it’s easy to suggest a team should try to lay and down and lose games for the greater good, but that is a hard line to cross. There is a reason that player after player has stood at the podium and spoken about how they believe everything is still in front of them, and how they aren’t willing to buy into a losing culture. That’s because this organization has competed at the highest levels and worked to cultivate an atmosphere where winning matters.

It might seem easy to flip a switch and ask the players to put those ideals aside for five weeks and start fighting again next year. But it’s a lot harder to sell that and not undermine the culture that has been so carefully cultivated over the last few years. How do you tell older players like Demario Davis, Terron Armstead and Mark Ingram that the very thing they’ve been sold on, and sold to other player How do you tell them that a season at the end of their career is no longer worthy of a full effort?

How do you tell a team that they should no longer fight when there is still something to fight for and then start next year by telling them that they need to sacrifice everything in pursuit of winning games? There might be a time to be a little more cautious with injuries or to start getting a closer look at younger players. But that time isn’t now. Not when there is still time on the clock.

This team still thinks it can make the playoffs. To the rest of us, the hope of that is looking bleaker by the injury or suspension or illness. But that belief has to get shattered on the field. Not by someone deciding that this team no longer has the right to compete after all the work they put in this offseason and the injuries and ailments they fought through to still have a fighting chance this late in the season. :bng:

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

Thanks, K! And, Amen, Mr. Underhill!

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

Winners don't quit.

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

It's a false narrative pushed by "journalists" and idiots on the internet who want to force the issue into a binary choice so they can argue.

That's what our resident :censored: does.

It's not about tanking. It's about accepting what we don't have, accepting our situation and taking a look at what we have. I don't want to tank, but I'm more than willing to sacrifice a few wins over the next five games.

Don't feed the trolls...

Re: Which would you want? Win Out or Lose Out?
 

Our situation is that we have several key players returning from injury on both sides of the ball and are still in a position to make the playoffs. If a fan has wishes that their team loses then that's their prerogative. Nothing to argue about.