Maybe the Saints need a strength/conditioning and nutritions expert team like Coach Brian Kelly seems to have put together at LSU. Have the Saints lost their way in certain parts of the organization?

That's why Dr. Matt Rhea was hired this past off-season as director of sports science.

Most teams are never healthy, we have not been healthy for many years.

Guess he could not do his job either... Turf Toe is it?

Healthy is a relative term. Not being healthy could be anything from having a cold to having pancreatic cancer. Kindly Point out to me another team that has played without:

2-3 starting olinemen,
# 1 WR
#1 CB
starting QB
Any backup RBs
Middle LB

Then, if you find any that have done so, let me know the record of those teams.

So is Dr. Rhea the answer? How is his performance so far? (Matt Rhea on Saints WR Michael Thomas' injury/rehab: 'He's constantly working … to return') . How many players are on IR for seemingly a minor injury, like cutting fingernails too short or something absurdly ridiculous like that? If one states that all teams are undergoing similar challenges, does that makes it explainable to justifiable? Or is it symptomatic of a league wide problem? Certainly it's not a $ issue since the league makes more than anyone can imagine. If the league's intent is to have a bunch of 8-9 and 9-8 teams, then we're there, hockey basically. It's not entertaining or fun to watch and witness as fans. IMHO, the league has gotten too big for its britches. They've lost their way. They've lost track of the most important part, the fans. That's who ultimately funds these overpaid folks. And now with gambling... SMDH.

That is exactly the goal of the NFL. That is the sole purpose of the salary cap. Absolute parity. The later into the season with as many teams still alive to get some sort of playoff spot the better. If every team went into week 18 at 8-8 the NFL and all of their broadcast partners would be doing backflips. It is first and foremost a business, as is every professional sport.

You say it's not entertaining or fun to watch, yet every year new viewership records are being set. People are tuning into the various platforms to watch games in greater numbers than ever before. That's why the ever growing pool of broadcast providers funds those "overpaid folks". It's because the fans continue to tune in and watch their ads.

I think they want to give all teams a “chance” by establishing a cap to avoid mega-spending teams ruling the league. But they don’t want parity 8-8 teams throughout the league. The league loves stars and winners. They want record setters and attention grabbers. The league really only has to have about 3-4 good matchups a week to show nationwide to keep interest.

Ideally the NFL would want a different team to win it all every year.

Why would this be ideal? The league is trying to sell itself globally. They want the common big names to win. Not unknown cities. The Ideal Super bowl for them is a big East Coast city vs a big West Coast city with a little bit of old guard Packers/Stealers/Dallas thrown in. The hardest thing for them to sell is a matchup between the Saints and Titans for SB.

They are already selling it. Or well on the way. The global market has no predefined ties to older successful franchises. The NFL has an international marketing plan that ties specific franchises to different global areas. They call it International Marketing Rights.

Regardless, the Super Bowl sells itself. It will always be the most watched broadcast every year just as it has been for years and years. To the international market it just the NFL and they are starved to watch it. Or at least that's the take on most every article I have read about it.

Don't forget that arguably the worst franchise in the league, J'Ville' sells out every game in Europe.

Ideally the NFL would want a different team to win it all every year. Even with absolutely parity there are other factors that will always cause some teams to rise up and others fall down with injuries being a major one of those factors. One team winning it all every year becomes just as deflating as every team finishing at 8-9 or 9-8.

If the league is smart, they'd want more dynasties. Attention to the NBA was never higher than in the Bulls Jordan heyday when you either were on the bandwagon with them or you were part of the resistance against them. The same thing kind of happening when Dallas/SF were at the height of their powers in the 90's and the other teams were left with scraps. Dynasties create a lot of attention and contempt.