An Offseason of Continuity for the New Orleans Saints

You may recall that from 2014-16, the New Orleans Saints were a model of consistency – in a disappointing way. The club posted three consecutive 7-9 seasons. Quarterback Drew Brees was racking up big seasons in terms of yards and touchdown passes but the Saints’ defense couldn’t keep up because of the lack of balance, as well as other factors.

The club got off to a 0-2 start in 2017 and then went through a philosophical change. It was a year that would begin a run of four consecutive division titles – a first for the organization. Unfortunately, none of those ever resulted in the franchise’s second-ever Super Bowl appearance.

This past year and with Brees now retired, the Saints got off to a surprising 5-2 start under the command of quarterback James Winston and Dennis Allen’s defensive unit. But the strong-armed signal-caller went down with a season-ending knee injury in the club’s Week 8 win over the Buccaneers.

That would be followed by a crippling five-game losing streak. New Orleans would rebound to win four of their last five contests but a 9-8 record wasn’t good enough to qualify for the playoffs.

Now the franchise faces another challenge with head coach Sean Payton stepping down after 16 seasons with the club. Enter Allen as the team’s new sideline leader. He came to New Orleans with Payton in 2006, left for four seasons with the Broncos (2011) and Raiders (2012-14) and returned to the Big Easy in 2015. And according to veteran running back Mark Ingram, who rejoined the team in 2021 via trade with the Texans, that is a positive for the club.

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“I think that was huge, keeping the DNA the same,” explained the 11-year pro. “It’s not like it’s a full rebuild here. I think you have a team that can make a lot of noise and make a run at it. Obviously, we have to improve and get better and gel as a unit, but I think keeping the DNA of the team, the culture of the team the same, I think that’s huge and I think we’ll all benefit from it…

“Obviously, D.A. is different from Sean. But D.A. has done a great job of just trying to keep it as normal as possible and adding his own kind of flavor to it,” Ingram said. “I think the defense is more used to it, because they spent so much time with him in defensive meetings. We only saw him sometimes when he had to fill in. But I like him a lot. I think he’s doing a great job with the team…”

The franchise has added some significant pieces this offseason in wide receiver Jarvis Landry and safeties Tyrann Mathieu, Marcus Maye and Daniel Sorensen. The club drafted wide receiver Chris Olave and tackle Trevor Penning in the first round. But Allen’s first big challenge could be dealing with the possible loss of running back Alvin Kamara early in the season (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). All told, this could be a fascinating year in the Crescent City.