AsylumGuido

We are favorites to win our division and make the playoffs. That is by no definition "sad times" that Bako imagines we are living in. Our front office is among the most respected in the entire league. Just because Bako is living in some bizzaro world of antiquated NFL management logic in no way means anyone else sees the unprecedented success, in Saints historical terms, as being in "sad times".

Boston Saint

It’s an interesting discussion

BakoSaint

We are favorites of some pundits but not others to win what is widely considered the worst division in the league by a game or a half game while spending the most future 2024 cap of any team in the league to 'win now.' If you want to go to betting odds to justify it I guess we are the favorite at +135 but then you also have to recognize our odds at the NFC Championship at +1800. It is worth spending mortgaging future salary caps more than any other team in the league to have a 1 in 20 chance at appearing in the Super Bowl and a 1 in 40 chance to win it all (+3500 and accounting for casino profits)???

The concept of rebuilding is not antiquated. The Eagles rebuilt and got back to the Super Bowl and got a young promising QB. 2 of the last 3 Super Bowl Champs are rebuilding now, Rams and Bucs. We are trying a wacky new philosophy of doubling down no matter how bad it gets. Rebuilding is the current accepted philosophy.

But its no use listening to Guido and friends. Your hate for tradition and accepted management principles is too great for you to listen to reason. It doesn't matter if we go 0-17 and get shut out in every game, you will blame injuries and bad bounces and act like unfavorable officiating was random bad luck and a shocking surprise. Then you will declare Mickey Loomis the second coming of Jesus Christ when he gets us under the 2024 salary cap by assigning 2030 salary cap dollars to Andrus Peat and Michael Thomas even if they don't play a down in 2024 because the extensions will reduce their cap hit a little in 2024.

The Saints sad years before the NFL had a salary cap are irrelevant. No team could be that bad with parity in the league today unless they tried really hard to be that bad. The best way to try to be that bad would be to mortgage the salary cap and borrow big from the future as much as possible by committing long term dollars prorated out many years to aging injury prone veterans and trading future draft picks in the present when they value is low so that if you do lose you don't get the picks to bounce back and you don't have the salary cap space to keep young stars. Thats what we are trying to do. Thats Mickey's goal. To be as bas as we were in the 70's even with the parity of the salary cap. It took him a long time to figure out how to ruin a team despite the salary cap. How to use the cap to go into so much debt you assure a third of your money goes to players who are washed and would not make a roster on other teams. But he has done it. He has beat the cap. And he intends to make us worse than in the 1970's. He got a .283 coach. He locked down a mediocre QB for his 30's. He is doing it.

AsylumGuido