SmashMouth

So asking for a friend ... who'd be willing to come here that's a competent OC for what would in all likelihood be a one year gig at most? How large is the pool of candidates for such a hot job?

K Major

Not many but seeing how this Saints franchise operated in 2023, Dennis Allen will surely vouch for one of his former rejects from his Raider days .

The front office don't see it (or care to) yet, but the only way to resolve real problems in NOLA is getting a new Head Coach.

Getting a new coach won't guarantee success, but staying with the same below average HC will ensure mediocrity.

AsylumGuido

Why would it be a one year gig?

MatthewT

Because of an aging roster that is in need of an upgrade with very little wiggle room to make changes will put Dennis the Menace right back on the hot seat.

Sinner

You’re explaining this to someone who derives pleasure in seeing what this tired formula does to loyal fans.

AsylumGuido

How does that make it a one year gig?

By the way, this "aging roster" is only an average of 15 months older than the 6th youngest roster in the NFL. Were you aware of that?

MatthewT

In NFL terms 15 months is pretty significant. The Saints also have way too many key players that are over 30. The roster is absolutely aging and additionally has a great number of players that have been in the league more than 6 years which in most positions signals the later/end stages of a career.

The one year gig, if DA is fired after a failed year 3 the entire coaching staff is likely to go with him.

AsylumGuido

One good draft can take care of that. It can also shift the average age by a sizable margin. I feel way too much emphasis is placed on age. Arguably our best all round defensive player, Demario Davis, is one of our oldest players turning 35 in one week. Replacing him now with a much younger player would most likely weaken our roster while lowering the average age.

Rugby Saint II

We can't count on one good draft to restock the Shelves in one year though Guido. It's been done before but it's been a rare treat. 2006 and 2017 were good drafts.

The Saints have not drafted well lately. We have way too many draft picks sitting on the sideline being developed and not contributing or are flat out busts. A good draft would do wonders for the team. I have faith in Ireland to find the talent but I don't have faith in the staff to draft the right prospect.

BakoSaint

One good draft cannot take care of the age of our roster because the players we draft won't displace our older players. They can't because we can't afford the dead cap hits from not restructuring and extending our older players. Our core of aging and injury prone veterans will be retained because we have to restructure them all to get under the cap and can't afford to cut them. If we draft good young players they will likely displace other youngish players like Lynn Bowden, Trevor Penning, DMarco Jackson, Jordan Howden, Landon Young, etc. Also the Saints only have 2 picks in the first 4 rounds.

The average age of the roster is just an easy approximation for the aging of talent. In reality our problem is worse. Many of our starters, and especially our most talented and/or costly starters, are way over the hill for their positions or breaking down. This includes Carr, Jordan, Davis, Lattimore, Ram, Mathieu, and Kamara. We may be unable to move on from ANY of these players due to our salary cap situation. We could get a younger Punter or a younger 4th string TE but that won't matter much. To get younger in a useful way, teams need to move on from investing too much money in highly paid aging starters who are past their prime.

It's great that Davis had a great season but his age matters a lot. If he had that season at 27 we could expect many similar great seasons ahead. Having that great season at his current age, and our team still only being .500 with a historically easy schedule, means we could hit the jackpot on a an all pro defender in the draft and actually get worse, because age could finally catch up with Davis and he could quickly become a liability, and the all pro defender we add in the 1st round could simply be a break even. But because we are in cap hell and have to max restructure Davis's contract, we could owe more outstanding prorated dollars than ever, so we are actually worse off having the same talent for more total money.

We need to get meaningfully younger. To do that we need to be able to move on from some of our older players or downsize their salaries to be compatible with a decreasing role. Our salary cap situation and Cap Voldemort's management style prevent us from doing that. Our two picks in the first 4 rounds won't make up for a dozen veterans all getting a year older on the oldest team in the league.

There is a chance we will move on from Thomas, Peat, and Winston. However, we also may not, as there are probably situations where extending them to defer dead cap could save us a dollar against this years salary cap, and in Mickey Loomis's book $1 is enough to split a beer with Pete Carmicheal on ladies night. But moving on from those guys won't solve our problems (though giving them good money would make them worse). They are not starters except Peat. Thomas greatly helped our team by lighting a fire under Carr on Twitter and has made Carr a better player since. Winston is a relatively cheap veteran backup which is something most teams have. We really need to move on from the guys with mega deals to have a youth movement. Peat has actually been a good value after we finally ended the 5 year failed experiment of playing him at guard and realized he is a left tackle.