It really can’t be stated enough how much Drew Brees, as both a player and a person, helped heal the soul of the city of New Orleans. 

The city was reeling from the damages it suffered from the destructive Hurricane Katrina. Many had lost their houses, jobs and lives. New Orleans was looking for its Superman, and Drew Brees swooped in and brought the Big Easy back to a positive light for a change. 

Obviously, Katrina did the utmost damage to New Orleans, but the football team that was stinking up the joint every other year couldn’t have made things easier. Before Brees signed with the Saints in March 2006, the team had a combined 11-21 record the previous two seasons. That pales in comparison to the struggles the team went through in the mid- to late 20th century. 

Since the team began play in 1967, the Saints finished with a winning record just six times from the late ’60s to the year 2000. When the team did make the playoffs, it would lose swiftly, and the rest of the world would seemingly forget that New Orleans even had a football team. 

That is why Drew Brees coming to the Saints was so important – the spirit, the success and the economic help that Brees and the team brought to the city was crucial in its comeback post-Katrina. In Brees’ time as quarterback for the Saints, the team won a Super Bowl in 2010, made the NFC Championship Game on two other occasions and made the playoffs as a whole eight times from 2005-2020. 

With that being said, it should come as no surprise the New Orleans Saints have struggled mightily in the post-Brees era, but it is surprising – strangely enough. The Saints’ high-powered offense of the 2010’s was synonymous with football culture as a whole, as the team was a staple in one of the most successful decades for the NFL in its history. 

Brees retired after the 2020-2021 season, and since then, it has been nothing but nothing for the Saints. The team has gone through coaching and coordinator changes, quarterback dysfunction and lackluster draft choices that have resulted in the team going 27-33 since 2021 with no playoff appearances to show for it. 

What has gone terribly wrong for the Saints? Is there any hope for the team to turn towards the light and avoid a second “New Orleans ‘Aints” period? 

Coaching 

Alongside Brees, coach Sean Payton was the most recognizable face of the Saints’ most 

successful era in franchise history. Payton came to New Orleans in the same 2006 offseason that Brees did and left just one year after Brees following a solid, but underwhelming 9-8 2021 campaign that saw the Saints miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016. 

Following Payton’s departure from New Orleans, many were surprised by the Saints front office when they stayed in-house and hired defensive coordinator Dennis Allen instead of a high-profile hire such as longtime New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The Saints had thrived on the team’s offense since Brees and Payton had arrived, and they were now shifting towards the defense.

The shift has not worked – the Saints went 7-10 in 2022 and 9-8 in 2023, missing the playoffs on both occasions. The Saints opened the 2024 season strong going 2-0 before going on a seven game losing streak, and Allen has since been relieved from his duties as coach, and New Orleans will now search for the leader of the franchise come this spring. 

Quarterback

The term revolving door comes to mind. The Saints have started a whopping seven different quarterbacks since 2021. 

The first in the post-Brees era was former Heisman winner and first overall pick Jameis Winston, who, due to a number of complications including injuries, poor performance and team fit, did not cut it as the starter for the Saints. Following Winston was a number of journeymen and misfits such as Ian Book, Trevor Siemian and the Swiss army knife that is Taysom Hill – all of whom did not propel the Saints to relevance. 

After a few starts in 2022 from veteran Andy Dalton, the Saints were willing to spend lots of money on a big name, and they found one in Derek Carr.

Although Carr was solid enough in Oakland/Las Vegas for the Raiders, he has been a shell of his former self in New Orleans. He has been supplanted as the starter at times this season by rookie Spencer Rattler and had been benched in 2023 for Jake Haener. He will most likely be replaced in the spring by a much younger and cheaper option. 

Drafting

Drafting, or “shopping for some of the groceries” as hall of fame coach Bill Parcels once put it, is arguably the most important thing for a front office to get right if they want their team to be successful.

The Saints front office was known for finding gems, most notably in 2017 when the team selected franchise leaders Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk and Alvin Kamara to name a few, but the drafting committee has not had the same success in the last three drafts. 

Outside of 2022 first-round receiver Chris Olave, no draft pick has made a recognizable difference on offense and some selections such as A.T. Perry and Kawaan Baker aren’t with the team in 2024. Quarterbacks Haener and Rattler made appearances but did little to convince the front office and probably won’t make much of a difference in the league. 

On the defensive side of the ball, it isn’t much better. 2021 third round pick cornerback Paulson Adebo has played well at times, but the majority of the defensive draft picks have just not cut it. Most notably, 2021 first round pick defensive end Payton Turner has appeared in just 23 of a possible 60 ball games, recording a measly four sacks and 26 tackles. 

What’s next? 

The Saints will most likely stumble to a below .500 record in 2024 –  due to their strength of schedule, a 3-14 or 4-13 record seems probable. There is hope at the end of the tunnel, however. 

New Orleans has six draft picks at its disposal for 2025, and if the season ended today, the team would pick third in the draft. If they were to hold a top three pick, any number of signal callers could be available such as Colorado’s Sheduer Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward. 

As for coaching, options such as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson or Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury could be available should the Saints want to return to their offensive roots and build around a QB with an offensive-minded guru. 

It’s sad to see the Saints in the current state they are in , especially for fans who grew up watching Brees throw passes to Michael Thomas, Brandin Cooks or Marques Colston.

However, with the draft capital and coaching vacancy New Orleans has, it is easy to feel optimistic about the Saints returning to the glory days. 

Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellmanKSTV on X.