Forget the final score, the only number the Saints care about is 53

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GREEN BAY, Wis. — Ignore the final score of the Saints’ exhibition game against the Green Bay Packers on Friday night. It was as meaningless as Mayor Cantrell’s “no Mardi Gras” bluff.

For the Saints, their 20-10 loss to the Packers was all about the means rather than the end. It was about the process instead of the outcome, a necessary step in the mission to determine the makeup of the team they will take into the 2022 season.

The only number that mattered to the Saints on Friday night was 53.

Exhibitions like this are a vital part of the evaluation process to determine not just the best 53 players on the active roster, but as coach Dennis Allen said Wednesday, “the right 53.” Those two are not always the same, and in the case of the 2022 Saints, the right 53 might be more difficult for Allen and the rest of the Saints brain trust to determine than past years. This is a deeper, more talented team than the one that went 9-8 last season.

Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis made it an offseason priority to improve the depth of the roster from top to bottom. The idea was to improve the competition behind the starters, and to give the offensive and defensive units better replacement options if and when injuries strike.

To that end, the Saints signed a slew of veteran free agents to bolster their depth on both sides of the ball. Guys such as Andy Dalton, Kentavius Street, Justin Evans, Daniel Sorensen, Nick Martin, Devine Ozigbo, Eric Wilson and Taco Charlton have played a lot of games in the NFL. Most of them are backups, role players who can start a game or two for you in a pinch. They might not win a game for you, but they’re good enough to not lose one, which is really the point.

The effort has continued through training camp as the Saints have added veterans Jon Bostic, Chase Hansen, Niko Lalos and Jaleel Johnson, who was with the team throughout the offseason.

The improved depth was on full display Friday night.

The Saints sat 22 players against the Packers, including 18 projected starters. They played without their best passer (Jameis Winston), runner (Alvin Kamara), receiver (Michael Thomas), blocker (Ryan Ramczyk), pass rusher (Cam Jordan), tackler (Demario Davis) and cover man (Marshon Lattimore).

There’s only so much you can learn from a contest like this one, where the third-string quarterback takes almost all of the offensive snaps, and the starting cornerbacks (DeMarcus Fields and Quenton Meeks) are two guys who probably won’t be on the team in two weeks.

When the highlights of your night are a punt (an 81-yarder by Blake Gillikin) and a field goal (a 59-yard missile by Wil Lutz), it tells you all you need to know about the quality of the competition on the field.

No, this was a night for the back end of the roster rather than the front end. It was about roster spots 48 through 53, where a handful of competitions are still being waged.

The following is a cliché, but in this case it’s not an exaggeration: The Saints are going to cut players who will not just make other NFL teams but also play for them and contribute.

The Saints are particularly deep along the defensive line, in the secondary and at receiver.

How deep is this roster?

It’s possible that Charlton and Kevin White, a pair of former first-round picks, won’t make the final 53-man roster when it’s finalized on Aug. 30. Likewise, Forrest Lamp, a high second-round pick in 2017, was fighting an uphill battle to make the team before being placed on injured reserve last week.

You know you’ve got a deep roster when you select three players in the top 50 of the NFL draft and only one of them is slated to see significant duty early in the season.

Allen likes his group a lot. There's talent and star power up and down the roster. And the intangibles might be just as impressive.

“I think our group is made up (of fighters),” Allen said earlier in the week. “I think we’ve got a gritty, frickin’ tough group, and I like that.”

Now he just has to determine the right 53 for 2022. The next two weeks won't be easy.