Off-season plan
 

We certainly need to hit it on the draft, but 1st comes free agency where we fill in holes at OL and DL, sprinkle in some depth and speed at LB, and CB, then we can pick BPA in the draft at positions of weakness.

We'll probably bring in some mid-tier F/A's familiar with our new OC's scheme.

Its the formula for success in my opinion.

Re: Off-season plan
 

Love to get my man Payton Wilson from NC State.

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I just wish we had a third or fourth round draft pick to beef up the trenches. And you're right, I expect a couple of players from the 49'ers to sign with the Saints.

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This is the NFL.

I wouldn't rule out ANYONE from the Saints being traded this off season.

Not saying it is going to happen, however something to keep an eye on.

As the title implies ... it IS the "OFF-season" :p

Re: Off-season plan
 

This feels like at least a 2 season project.

Re: Off-season plan
 

If I were king for a day ...
- cut Penning
- let Thomas and Jameis walk
- let Haener be QB2
- new punter
- restructure Carr to clear the books and get cap compliant (unfortunately)
- don't spend much in free agency
- draft BPA in rounds 1-3
- draft for need rounds 4+
- great UDFA signings
- watch UFL for any diamonds in the rough
- trade Lattimore for sweet draft capital if the return is good enough

Re: Off-season plan
 

[QUOTE=neugey;993043]If I were king for a day ...
- cut Penning
- let Thomas and Jameis walk
- let Haener be QB2
- new punter
- restructure Carr to clear the books and get cap compliant (unfortunately)
- don't spend much in free agency
- draft BPA in rounds 1-3
- draft for need rounds 4+
- great UDFA signings
- watch UFL for any diamonds in the rough
- trade Lattimore for sweet draft capital if the return is good enough[/QUOTE]

I'm not ready to cut Penning just yet. He's only been on the team for two years on his cheap rookie contract and he could develop with good coaching.

Also, I don't want to trade a shut down corner. He makes DA's defense completely dominant. But if we do trade him him, it better be for a high draft pick.

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I’m not a Power Rankings guy.. Meaning I don’t care about the rankings but I do read them for the 30k foot view and this one makes some salient points.

Interestingly enough the players listed as “ancient by NFL standards” also account for roughly 55% of our cap and we are roughly 83MM over. It’s one thing to be young, fast, and over the cap it’s a whole different boat anchor when your ‘old and slowing’ is too expensive to let go.

Ranking Comment
“There are bigger problems here than the Saints' finances. Yes, as per usual, they are over the cap to a shocking degree. But more importantly, this just wasn't that good a team last year, and there aren't a ton of avenues toward improvement. The core of their roster — Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara, Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, Tyrann Mathieu — is ancient by NFL standards. Star right tackle Ryan Ramczyk may need to retire for medical reasons. The vibes here just don't seem great.”
https://amp.foxsports.com/stories/nf...power-rankings

Re: Off-season plan
 

This now feels like at least a 3 season project.

Re: Off-season plan
 

Ranking Comment
“There are bigger problems here than the Saints' finances. Yes, as per usual, they are over the cap to a shocking degree. But more importantly, this just wasn't that good a team last year, and there aren't a ton of avenues toward improvement. The core of their roster — Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara, Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, Tyrann Mathieu — is ancient by NFL standards. Star right tackle Ryan Ramczyk may need to retire for medical reasons. The vibes here just don't seem great.”

This right here ^^.

Saints are OLD & have a ton of work to do this off season.

Re: Off-season plan
 

The “Win Now” philosophy has caught up to the Saints. They need to start to shed some dead weight, regardless of the sacrifice they have to make. It would be ugly to watch but at least you can start from scratch. You can’t keep putting the same ingredients in and expect a better outcome.

Something has to give. And if the Saints still feel like they can field a contender with basically the same roster and a horrible cap, it’s gonna make the season even more underwhelming.

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Oh come on guys. It's a cutting edge accounting practice that more and more teams emulate today... Loomis is a genius. It'll never be a problem so stop worrying.

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In my opinion, 70% of our problems will be fixed if we address the O-line.
30% going to the pass rush.

Its a 1 off-season fix, not a 3 year plan.

Just my .02

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I believe that we have one of the oldest rosters in the league right now.
:biggun:

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Old and out of touch ownership and front office = old roster and irrelevant upgrades.

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Yep and the oldest are our best players.

It's time to get younger (see Lions, GB, Cowboys).

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Agree completely on all points, Danno. We have weapons on offense at all the skill positions and that includes Carr. We have playmakers on the defense and need to plug a hole here or there.

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But those listed "old" players are still better than most players far younger. There is not a direct correlation between age and value. Demario Davis, for example, is one of the top LB's in the league today even at his supposed advanced age. The same can be said for players like Mathieu and Kamara. While Cam Jordan may seem like he has lost a step he's still drawing double teams as often as players ten years younger. Our problem isn't our older players, it's those younger players that can't stay on the field due to injury.

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Define "address".

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Brother, you need to put the crack pipe down and realize that we didn’t even win our weak @ss division this year. Pipe Dreams and Excuses don’t equate to WINS.

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^^ what he said.

Re: Off-season plan
 

Since that was my take, too, I would define "address" as in hitting the free agent market and further developing some of what we have in house during the off-season. I'd still draft o-line via the draft, but not expecting a quick return.

If we could simply place a consistent lineup out there week to week it would help as much as replacing bodies. I have always felt a successful o-line needs to know and feel exactly what the man on their right and/or left are doing in every situation. 15 different lineups in 17 weeks makes that pretty much impossible.

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Get younger. Get faster. Get cheaper.

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Case in point - Steve Wilks fired as 49ers defensive coordinator

Some franchises just have higher standards and definitions of winning.

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I'm going to disagree with you on most of this. Youth = Speed. Speed Kills. Their experience has to be leveraged against that 'lost a step'. You have to balance experience of veterans with the strength, durability, and dspeed of youth. That's why you draft for new blood. If you haven't noticed, teams that have a good balance between the two are most successful.

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The Saints should hire Wilks in some defensive role.

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I bet Steve sits out 2024 in hopes of becoming a HC again.

Man, the Niners defense was giving Mahomes the business all first half. They played well all season.

Honestly I'm shocked at his firing.

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Offer him an advisory position.

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I've been meaning to get back to this and kept getting side tracked.

‘70% of our problems will be fixed if we fix the o-line' - Zero disagreement from me on that, a good line makes wide holes and gives plenty of time. Offense is all about time and separation.

"1 0ff-season fix" - This is where I am struggling. We've been yelling at the organization to address various issues with the offensive line for almost a decade. QBs keep getting hurt, screen game has been gone for years, no time to throw or get open. In the last seven years we have drafted 2 OTs and 1 C in the first round which speaks to how necessary it has been to address the offensive line. Now we are just going to fix it in a single camp? What is the formula that has escaped us until this point?

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With Ramz degenerative knee issue, Andrus Peat being an UFA & Trevor P still struggling ... we really need to hit on the OL in the draft.

Let's hope Kubiak helps with the offense & blocking scheme.

I honestly see the OL as a multiple season "fix". The only player I feel confident about in those trenches is E McCoy. Everyone else is suspect & inconsistent.

BTW, the Saints new OL coach is John Benton.

But as TheOak stated, you can have all of the talent in the world on offense but if the Oline isn't "up to par" ...you're in trouble.

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Health + Coaching (Offensive Line/Coordinator) + Free Agency + Development + Draft = Off-Season Fix

The draft is a component that cannot be trusted to have a material affect in one off-season, however. A very popular topic recently is how offensive line prospects coming out of today's college game are becoming more and more ill-prepared for the NFL game. Plug and play athletes at these positions are increasingly rare.

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We need a new REAL QB, protected by a solid O LINE, we need a new REAL HEAD COACH, a new GM, and a NEW OWNER. NONE OF THIS IS HAPPENING, and you say that there is nothing that any of us can do about it. So pour yourself a new glass of Kool Aid, buy a new Carr Jersey to match your tutu, and fire up the rose colored crack pipe. There will be pain.

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Add in 2, or 3 QUALITY players from the draft & free agency while you're at it.

We couldn't even capitalize in a WEAK NFC South conference. More talent is needed and necessary.

The Saints have a TON of work to do.

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This is quite interesting. It used to be where WRs took time to develop in the NFL and seldom had impact right away but you could find a decent OL and plug him in. Nowadays its quite the opposite where WRs enter the league more ready than ever but OL takes a lot longer to develop.

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OL takes longer to develop? ... sure but to a certain extent.

If you look at some of the teams we took L's to in 2023 ...

Detroit - Colby Sardial (played in 16, started in 3)
Texans - Juice Scruggs (7 total starts)
Falcons - Matthew Bergeron (started all 17 games)
Bucs - Cody Mauch (started all 17 games)

All rookies in those trenches.

Copy cat league - go do what the winning teams are doing. If you can't, find better national scouts & ooaches.

Saints are all out of excuses on why they are failing every year.

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The explanation I keep hearing is that with the new NCAA rules limiting access to the athletes (20 hours per week including all gameday activities including meals), most college programs are going to the more simplistic spread type offenses with shotgun snaps. Linemen are not getting those bunched formations any longer. Blocking schemes are basic at best. Seven step drops are a thing of the past. Linemen just aren't getting taught the techniques required for the NFL game any longer. It's said that coaches aren't motivated to teach any longer and simply try to do the best they can with the limited time they have to try to win to save their jobs. And why should they have that motivation when the ones with the most potential are hitting the transfer portal and/or hitting the draft after two or three seasons anyway. This is true for all positions.

WR's, as you mentioned, seem to be getting more opportunities than ever to learn their wares. 11 and even 10 personnel are becoming more commonplace in the college game, albeit in a spread more than NFL type of alignments.

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Re: Off-season plan
 

New OC and offensive coaches- check
Renegotiate contracts/cap compliant- check
Dig deep at the Senior bowl and combine- check
Sign FA's to fill holes and draft BPA-?
Draft well-?

Re: Off-season plan
 

We need a new Head Coach.

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We've been productive this offseason. We have new coaches on offense with a real plan and that is why I'm excited about this team this year. If we can hit on free agents to plug in along with a good draft then we're right back to looking good again.