They’ll add Justin Simmons as well and likely run away with the division. I’m not of the mind that they can’t win or go to a Super Bowl. Rex Grossman went. Jake Delhomme went. Trent Dilfer won. Simmons should have never got out of New Orleans and somebody like Donovan Smith should have had Penning on the bench months ago.

https://youtu.be/CP-_Cg4qmRk

When the Saints returned to New Orleans this week for a practice at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium, Penning split first-team reps with offseason acquisition Oli Udoh. That trend continued Wednesday, when the team held its first training camp practice at its Airline Drive complex.

After practice, coach Dennis Allen said he would “still give the advantage” to Penning and that putting Udoh in the lineup with the starters was a matter of seeing what it looked like. But it is notable that the Saints have chosen to work someone else in at right tackle now, after two preseason games and several weeks of training camp.

“Much like I’ve said in some of the other position battles that we’re not quite settled on yet, I’m still waiting on the one guy that is going to jump out at me and say, ‘This is my frickin’ job,’” Allen said. “When it happens, we’re all going to know, … we’re all going to see it. I’m still waiting for that moment.”

Penning did show improvement from his first preseason game to his second — notably, his first and second career games at right tackle — but there is a difference between showing improvement and being someone the team knows it can reliably count on in a game setting.

The 2022 first-rounder has battled injury and ineffectiveness throughout his career with the Saints. Fairly or not, his draft status and his play to this point has put him squarely under the lens of those watching the team closely, and his mistakes have therefore been magnified.