The Saints have very little left in the Tank because of how their franchise has been managed. On one hand, I cannot blame them. On the other, they are wasting many of Drew Brees' best years. He could easily play to 50 the way he looks right now, but they are piddling around with a defense that is not good enough, with weapons on offense that do not allow Brees to show off, and in a division that is very tough. It is really hard to see them finishing anything other than last in their division, and the Sean Payton experiment may be coming to a close.
Bounty Gate
You forgot about Bounty Gate, did you not? I forgot about it before writing this piece, and I remembered that the Bounty Gate scandal was so bad because The Saints seemed to be running a creepy secret society like the Skulls out of their locker room. They were paying players to take people out, and Sean Payton got suspended for a year. He got suspended for a whole year, and we moved on like it was nothing. Their ownership group is in turmoil because the owner's family hates each other, and they are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. To put that in perspective, that was 12 years ago. The city has not fully recovered yet.
Payton got passed by
The NFL looked at Sean Payton, took his playbook, and ran off with it.
The Saints no longer run a unique offense, and they are not in a position where they can change it because this is what Drew runs. You cannot tell a first ballot hall of famer that you are not running his system. He also has no weapons, and that makes it hard for the team to score as much as they are capable. The defense is terrible, and they could lose all of their division games this year because I do not see how they are better than the other teams in their division.
The last two NFL MVPs, a Heisman Trophy winner, the last two Super Bowl runners-up, and fresh coaches stand between Payton, Brees, and any sort of success.
They should have rebuilt years ago
The team should have blown the whole thing up to keep Brees and allow the team to build around him. Had they done that, they would be in a very good position this year.
Their whole roster would be different, and they would be contenders. Right now, I expect them to go 5-11 which is a shame for Drew because he is better than that. However, they have their championship, and everyone else in the division is still waiting for that elusive ring. No offense to the saints that go marching in the French Quarter.
