Is there any team in the league that needs to blow things up and start over more than the Saints?

Four straight offseasons without making major adjustments to the roster.

Much like the Dolphins last year, the Saints need to be absolutely horrendous one of these seasons to shake them out of their doldrums.

These .500 seasons just encourage the front office to leave things pretty much as is so the cycle can repeat itself the following year.

Annually, New Orleans tinkers with its roster, reaches for a defensive lineman in the draft, stumbles out of the gate, puts together a run at some point that has everyone believing they can make the playoffs, but falls just short.

So much for upgrading the character of the New Orleans locker room, which has been a mess since Albert Connell stole cash from Deuce McAllister’s locker and Joe Horn allegedly slept with Willie Roaf’s wife. Smith replaces Tebucky Jones, who was released after the Saints learned with Bill Belichick knew when he traded him to the Big Easy – “Tebucky� is Flemish for “Doesn’t Wrap Up.�

Antowain Smith was also added to serve as McAllister’s backup. Ho-hum. That ought to be good to move the Saints from 8 to 8.2 wins.

The Saints’ primary needs are all on the defensive side of the ball, which is rather remarkable considering they have selected a defensive lineman in each of the last three first rounds. But only Charles Grant of that group (which also includes Will Smith and Jonathan Sullivan) has cracked the starting lineup. And with Darren Howard’s status uncertain – he has been hit with the franchise tag but may still be traded – the Saints still have a need along the line.

On offense, Joe Horn is the best player

But there’s no reason to suspect New Orleans will alter its defense-first strategy, and will probably reach for player in the first-round. Nothing else has changed about the Saints the last four years, so why should the draft strategy?

Remember how we pointed out how Carolina could have has many as seven starters this season from its top eight picks the last four drafts? For New Orleans, the number could be as low as two – McAllister in 2001 and Grant in 2002.

You can watch a lot of Saints games without seeing any contributions from some of the other high picks – names like Devery Henderson, Sullivan, and Sedrick Hodge.

Given the draft history, it’s surprising that New Orleans has been able to hang around the .500 mark for four seasons. Unfortunately, it also means this is a team that is probably on the downside, not the upswing.

Danno,

Due to the numerous inaccuracies of this editorial, I think the point of the whole column has been lost to you. I think this guy is correct in his overall assessment of this team. Geez how many times do we have to have different people tell us the same things before we finally stop denying the cold hard truth. It\'s not about being negative. It\'s about reviewing results of our team\'s performance over the past 4 years, and it hasn\'t been good, by anyone\'s standards. Believe me, if we were doing well, then you\'d have people saying good things about the Saints. However, the Saints have a habit of letting the public down whenever they start to believe in the Black and Gold.

Depending on how you view this team, what he said is either correct or we are a much worse team than we think. If your view of the team is that we are underachieving and we have enough talent to get to the playoffs and beyond, then he\'s right that there must be drastic changes in our organization to help the team realize their potential. When he said the team needs to be blown up and reconstructed, I think he means to get rid of losers like Victor Riley, Sully, Ruff, Hodge, and any of the other numerous bums that wouldn\'t be starting for any other team in the league. If this team is as talented as we all say it is and they haven\'t gotten the job done, what other way than a massive purging of supporting players is going to help this team???

If this team is not as good as we think it is and they are truly doing the best that they can, then that is even worse. Either case is reason enough to make major changes if they can\'t get over the hump of mediocrity. How much longer do you wait before you decide enough is enough??? I for one thought that this last season would be the final straw.

I know you take exception to this joker saying that we habitually reach for first round picks. I know that is false too, but the memory of Sully being one of the biggest reaches in NFL history kind of negates all of our good choices. Think about it. Has there been a reach of this magnitude in recent memory??? I can\'t think of one. He was the second DT chosen and was ranked as low as the 7th on some teams\' draft boards. I wouldn\'t call Ryan Leaf a bust, because he was expected to be drafted where he was. And to tell you the truth, I am not that mad at Sully. I am more pissed off at a team making a pick that shouldn\'t have been made in a million years. So that falls squarely on the team. These outsiders don\'t \"have it in\" for the Saints or anything like that. They are just calling it how they see it. While his views on particular issues are lost to me and most other Saints fans, his overall message hits pretty close to home.

New Orleans Saints
If It Aint Broke … Hey Saints, It’s Broke
Is there any team in the league that needs to blow things up and start over more than the Saints? New Orleans has missed the playoffs four straight years, and if they were just a bad football team, that would be one thing. But they’re something far worse – a mediocre football team.

Four straight years of seven to nine wins. Four straight offseasons without making major adjustments to the roster. Four straight years of looking like a Super Bowl team one week, an expansion team the next. Four straight years of mediocrity under Jim Haslett.

Much like the Dolphins last year, the Saints need to be absolutely horrendous one of these seasons to shake them out of their doldrums. These .500 seasons just encourage the front office to leave things pretty much as is so the cycle can repeat itself the following year.