What needs to happen for the Saints to contend for Lombardi Trophy this upcoming season?

Black and Gold to the Super Bowl?

This season the New Orleans Saints finished 9-8 for the second time in three years and at the conclusion of all three of those seasons, they failed to make the postseason. The team had previously won 4 consecutive NFC South titles between 2017 – 2020 in response to their last three-year playoff drought under the Sean Payton regime. Due to the franchise being in futility for so many years before breaking through a bit in the late 1980’s, some casual NFL fans may be a bit surprised at the Saints’ recent level of consistent success.

Over the last 20 years, the New Orleans Saints have posted the 7th best winning percentage in the NFL and over the past 15 years, they have managed to rank 5th best in that uber important category. The most disappointing thing throughout all that consistency is the fact that the franchise was only able to capitalize by winning one Super Bowl in the 2009-10 season.

As the focus narrows to present day, I wanted to touch on a few components that could make the Saints legitimate Lombardi trophy contenders. From offense to defense to special teams to coaching, this organization has some adjustments to make in order to make it to the mountain top.

COACHING

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Let’s start with the “head of the snake” if you will, the elephant in the room, coaching. It has been quite a tumultuous ride in the two-year tenure of Dennis Allen as the New Orleans Saints head coach. Allen owns a 16-18 record since taking over, has yet to earn a playoff berth and just this past season was his first ever with a winning record as a head guy in the NFL. Though highly respected by many as one of the better defensive play callers league wide, the coach has been much maligned for his passive aggressive nature, conservative tendencies and questionable decision making in “situational football”. Last season, Allen brought in several of “his guys” as defensive coaches last offseason (Joe Woods, Marcus Robertson, etc.) and now this offseason has already seen plenty of changes to the offensive coaching staff. With all the changes to both sides of the ball, this upcoming season will likely be a “prove it or lose it” case for Dennis Allen’s coaching future and its success will be pivotal to any dreams the Saints have of hoisting the Lombardi trophy.

OFFENSE

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If the boys in black and gold hope for any type of success offensively in the 2024-25 season, it must start with the big guys up front. The offensive line struggled mightily to start the season, allowing consistent pressure on Derek Carr and providing little to no pathway for Saints ball carriers to produce. This unit suffered from several injury setbacks and struggled to keep a consistent group of five on the field, leading to chemistry issues. Even though their play picked up towards the end of the year, there are still several significant question marks surrounding the offensive line, including the long-term health of Ryan Ramczyk and the development of Trevor Penning. In my opinion, when it comes down to on field play, this should be treated as priority number one by the organization.

In addition to resolving that issue, the Saints hope to have fresh, innovative play calling from their newly appointed offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak to legitimately meet their offensive potential. Fans watched as the offense was often bland and predictable while having a field goal bonanza. So, there will be a lot of eyes on this group to see if the changes made will yield results with Kubiak now in house.

Defense

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Similar to the top priority on the other side of the ball, the defensive line must see ample improvement in order for the unit as a whole to be Elite. The Saints, who had been routinely stout against the run over the past couple of years, struggled in 2023 to stop their opponents’ ground game, ranking 22nd in the league. Now if that wasn’t a big enough issue, the New Orleans defense struggled severely with their pass rush and the ability to bring opposing quarterbacks down, finishing last season as the fourth worst team in the league. This defense had several bright spots and many areas of strength to build on moving forward, however, run defense and the pass rush are glaring weaknesses. That also needs be addressed for this team to become a true contender.

Special Teams

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This may not seem like an area of concern to some, but the Saints decided to go with youth this past season by in essence, swapping out Wil Lutz for Blake Grupe at placekicker and Blake Gillikin for Lou Hedley at punter. Those pivotal roster moves proved to be quite the adventure throughout the entire season. Now I will do my best here to reserve judgment, as I always like to give players at least two years to show “they are who they are.” With that in mind, if we’re being brutally honest, Hedley left a lot to be desired from a punting perspective and while Grupe didn’t have a horrible year, a few of his misses came at very inopportune times (GB, Hou). If there isn’t any immediate improvement in the kicking/punting game, it could prove costly to any hopes New Orleans has of winning it all.

Front Office

This organization not only has improvements needed on the field, but it also once again will rely on the wizardry of Khai Harley and Mickey Loomis to figure out the Saints salary cap issues. They are currently $80 million in the red and will need to do a great deal of restructures to several existing contracts. With that in mind, not everyone will be able to be retained and the team will also have to take looks in free agency to fill some possible holes. The offseason of the front office may actually be the single most important aspect in New Orleans championship jigsaw puzzle. It remains to be seen how the squad will put it all together and how long of a project that it might be, but I actually believe the Saints aren’t as far away as some may think from being NFL champions again.