Another NFC South outlook

[Jakob]

What ridiculous is, automatically writing off the Saints, yet calling anyone who doesn't a moron. The truth is, none of us know how this season will shake out. Your "decimated" comment proves you know exactly as muh about the Saints as this guy knows about the Panthers. 

I have no idea what to expect. I can't see myself getting upset about someone saying a 7-9 team last year will go 5-11. I can't see myself getting upset about someone saying a 7-8-1 team will go 12-4. None of us know. I think all of you here are foolish to consistently say a team that finished a half game behind last year has absolutely no shot this year.

Look at your roster, dude. How do you expect a roster that went 7-9 to lose countless key players and get better? Lets start with Graham, Galette and compare them to the Panthers situation. That's like losing Charles Johnson and Greg Olsen, we'd be toast. Sure, you signed Spiller and Browner, but you failed to replace 7-10 other free agents that were starters or depth. That's not how you get better, it's how you get worse.

Do I really need to break it down how the Saints got worse? Must I explain why the Bucs, Titans or Redskins are going to be awful this season? Nope, because they don't have a roster to compete and neither do the Saints.

[Mother Grabber]

Look at your roster, dude. How do you expect a roster that went 7-9 to lose countless key players and get better? Lets start with Graham, Galette and compare them to the Panthers situation. That's like losing Charles Johnson and Greg Olsen, we'd be toast. Sure, you signed Spiller and Browner, but you failed to replace 7-10 other free agents that were starters or depth. That's not how you get better, it's how you get worse.

Do I really need to break it down how the Saints got worse? Must I explain why the Bucs, Titans or Redskins are going to be awful this season? Nope, because they don't have a roster to compete and neither do the Saints.

you forget how mad Payton is. you can't discount that. 

[saints4lifeagain]

Look at your roster, dude. How do you expect a roster that went 7-9 to lose countless key players and get better? Lets start with Graham, Galette and compare them to the Panthers situation. That's like losing Charles Johnson and Greg Olsen, we'd be toast. Sure, you signed Spiller and Browner, but you failed to replace 7-10 other free agents that were starters or depth. That's not how you get better, it's how you get worse.

Do I really need to break it down how the Saints got worse? Must I explain why the Bucs, Titans or Redskins are going to be awful this season? Nope, because they don't have a roster to compete and neither do the Saints.

I wasn't a fan of the Graham trade, but to act like we got nothing in return is laughable. We filled the weakest spot on the line with one of the better centers in football and drafted a leader on the defensive side of the ball. People who actually watched the Saints last year, not people who just casually glance at a depth chart, realize how bad the interior protection was last year. Carolina fans like to talk about the lack of protection for Cam, but ignore the lack of protection for Brees. Solution? Picking up an all pro center and getting rid of an overpaid, underwhelming guard.

The Saints offense has been top 10 in the league every year since 2006. Plemty of guys have come and gone and the system keeps chugging. Again, I'm not a fan of the Graham trade. I loved Jimmy. But I understand the direction they're wanting to go, because I understand the problems we had last year. 

Also, the cornerback situation last year was absolutely atrocious. Like to complain about Cason? Watch Corey White and Patrick Robinson start a few games. The entire cornerback squad, outside of Keenan Lewis is different. Browner was a huge pick up. Delvin Breaux and SJB are getting rave reviews out of camp. The secondary will be much improved, including having Byrd back from injury.

The Galette release hurt from a football standpoint, but it's become very apparent since he left that he caused a ton of tension in the locker room. He went from being a favorite team mate to being someone hated after he got paid. His comments about his former team mates since his release show that. 

The Saints really struggled with leadership last year. The first 3 acquisitions this offseason? Locker room leaders on Super Bowl winning teams. While I'm as skeptical as anyone about the product that will be put on the field, I respect the direction the organization has decided to go in. I have no idea what to expect. But I'm not writing them off. And any fan of a 7-8-1 team that is, is delusional.

[Jakob]

I wasn't a fan of the Graham trade, but to act like we got nothing in return is laughable. We filled the weakest spot on the line with one of the better centers in football and drafted a leader on the defensive side of the ball. People who actually watched the Saints last year, not people who just casually glance at a depth chart, realize how bad the interior protection was last year. Carolina fans like to talk about the lack of protection for Cam, but ignore the lack of protection for Brees. Solution? Picking up an all pro center and getting rid of an overpaid, underwhelming guard.

The Saints offense has been top 10 in the league every year since 2006. Plemty of guys have come and gone and the system keeps chugging. Again, I'm not a fan of the Graham trade. I loved Jimmy. But I understand the direction they're wanting to go, because I understand the problems we had last year. 

Also, the cornerback situation last year was absolutely atrocious. Like to complain about Cason? Watch Corey White and Patrick Robinson start a few games. The entire cornerback squad, outside of Keenan Lewis is different. Browner was a huge pick up. Delvin Breaux and SJB are getting rave reviews out of camp. The secondary will be much improved, including having Byrd back from injury.

The Galette release hurt from a football standpoint, but it's become very apparent since he left that he caused a ton of tension in the locker room. He went from being a favorite team mate to being someone hated after he got paid. His comments about his former team mates since his release show that. 

The Saints really struggled with leadership last year. The first 3 acquisitions this offseason? Locker room leaders on Super Bowl winning teams. While I'm as skeptical as anyone about the product that will be put on the field, I respect the direction the organization has decided to go in. I have no idea what to expect. But I'm not writing them off. And any fan of a 7-8-1 team that is, is delusional.

I'm not going to waste my Saturday night explaining to you how severely depleted the Saints roster is, maybe tomorrow.. I don't understand how even the most biased fan could expect the 3-4 decent acquisitions the Saints made to replace the 6-7 core players and the countless depth that the Saints lost. I don't allow my Panther fandom sway my opinions. I get paid to write about football and I couldn't in good conscience say that the Saints are better than a 6-7 win team.

[Sapper]

Stopped reading after:  "..win the NFC South two consecutive seasons in a row"

 

[Thorrez]

I wasn't a fan of the Graham trade, but to act like we got nothing in return is laughable. We filled the weakest spot on the line with one of the better centers in football and drafted a leader on the defensive side of the ball. People who actually watched the Saints last year, not people who just casually glance at a depth chart, realize how bad the interior protection was last year. Carolina fans like to talk about the lack of protection for Cam, but ignore the lack of protection for Brees. Solution? Picking up an all pro center and getting rid of an overpaid, underwhelming guard.

The Saints offense has been top 10 in the league every year since 2006. Plemty of guys have come and gone and the system keeps chugging. Again, I'm not a fan of the Graham trade. I loved Jimmy. But I understand the direction they're wanting to go, because I understand the problems we had last year. 

Also, the cornerback situation last year was absolutely atrocious. Like to complain about Cason? Watch Corey White and Patrick Robinson start a few games. The entire cornerback squad, outside of Keenan Lewis is different. Browner was a huge pick up. Delvin Breaux and SJB are getting rave reviews out of camp. The secondary will be much improved, including having Byrd back from injury.

The Galette release hurt from a football standpoint, but it's become very apparent since he left that he caused a ton of tension in the locker room. He went from being a favorite team mate to being someone hated after he got paid. His comments about his former team mates since his release show that. 

The Saints really struggled with leadership last year. The first 3 acquisitions this offseason? Locker room leaders on Super Bowl winning teams. While I'm as skeptical as anyone about the product that will be put on the field, I respect the direction the organization has decided to go in. I have no idea what to expect. But I'm not writing them off. And any fan of a 7-8-1 team that is, is delusional.

Of course you got something out of the trade, a $9M hit on your already hurneylike cap situation...

[Wundrbread33]

I would give up my freedom of speech and allow for government control of Internet content if it allowed me to never come across poo like that again.

[Carolina Cajun]

I wasn't a fan of the Graham trade, but to act like we got nothing in return is laughable. We filled the weakest spot on the line with one of the better centers in football and drafted a leader on the defensive side of the ball. People who actually watched the Saints last year, not people who just casually glance at a depth chart, realize how bad the interior protection was last year. Carolina fans like to talk about the lack of protection for Cam, but ignore the lack of protection for Brees. Solution? Picking up an all pro center and getting rid of an overpaid, underwhelming guard.

The Saints offense has been top 10 in the league every year since 2006. Plemty of guys have come and gone and the system keeps chugging. Again, I'm not a fan of the Graham trade. I loved Jimmy. But I understand the direction they're wanting to go, because I understand the problems we had last year. 

Also, the cornerback situation last year was absolutely atrocious. Like to complain about Cason? Watch Corey White and Patrick Robinson start a few games. The entire cornerback squad, outside of Keenan Lewis is different. Browner was a huge pick up. Delvin Breaux and SJB are getting rave reviews out of camp. The secondary will be much improved, including having Byrd back from injury.

The Galette release hurt from a football standpoint, but it's become very apparent since he left that he caused a ton of tension in the locker room. He went from being a favorite team mate to being someone hated after he got paid. His comments about his former team mates since his release show that. 

The Saints really struggled with leadership last year. The first 3 acquisitions this offseason? Locker room leaders on Super Bowl winning teams. While I'm as skeptical as anyone about the product that will be put on the field, I respect the direction the organization has decided to go in. I have no idea what to expect. But I'm not writing them off. And any fan of a 7-8-1 team that is, is delusional.

Ok, so where do I start.  First of, You're under the impression that the system will "keep chugging" forever, but players deteriorate, and that is exactly what is what Drew Brees is doing.  Every year his total yards and TD's go down.  His TD to INT ratio is inching closer and his superbowl window has essentially been closed (IMO, it closed on a Sunday in Charlotte in 2013).  All of this is a sign of a player losing arm strength.  You take away that aging players best weapons (Graham and Stills) and replace them with what?  Cooks will be back yes, but Colston is way past his prime and what other legitimate weapons are there?  Even with that, lets ignore the glaring weaknesses in your receiving department, and lets imagine replacing your center will fix all of your O-line problems, lets imagine that the saints again have a top 10 offense, the defense was historically bad and should still be historically bad and will likely stay that way this season.

 

I know what you think about the addition of Brandon Browner but your CB play (while bad) was not what made the Saints defense bad, it was all about the piss poor front 7.  If you allow a guy to sit in the pocket for 4+ seconds, you're gonna get ripped apart, even if you put Seattles secondary out there.  The worst thing that could happen to your secondary was to lose your best pass rusher, and (lo and behold) Gallette is gone, and man, there's NO ONE on that saints roster that anyone fears from a pass rushing standpoint.  If you're banking on a rookie to come in (your second rounder) and doing this, you don't understand how long it takes to develop pass rushers in the NFL.

 

To wrap, sure anything's possible, but by looking at the Saints current roster, the things you have (or don't have) and the potential infighting that's taking place due to what came out with Gallette, I don't have high hopes for the Saints, regardless of what the "pundits" say.  I do think the Panthers will win the division, but I could see us losing the division as well.  If we do lose the division though, I feel with some confidence that the team that took over the South crown will not be from New Orleans.