Where do the Saints go from here?

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It's not the popular opinion on here but I'd resign Winston. He will come at about half the salary that Wilson commands and doesn't require purging the roster and future draft capital

Saints will need those firsts.
Armstead, Cam, Malcom Jenkins, Demario Davis are all getting close to the end of their careers or end of their Saints playing days

Saints will still have cap casualties or draft picks that will need to be replaced Peat, Ruiz, Kwon, Roby, Trequan, etc

And that doesn't account for the unforeseen such as injuries or other circumstances such as but not limited to closet headcases (Michael Thomas, Junior Galette, Brandon Cook types)

Cap flexibility and draft capital are what keep franchises afloat. All in trades like what Seattle and LAR have been doing at best provide a competitive window but while also creating a flawed roster

Winston was 5-2 without a single NFL starting caliber skill player to throw to at WR or TE

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s there a majority opinion here on where the Saints should go?

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No where near majority. There is the Winston sucks, Winston should be the guy, Winston is good but the team can improve debates. Then there are the which QB should the team trade for debate.

Team needs to move on from MT debates

Team needs a massive overhaul of online v replace guards conversations

Only consensus is team needs to address WR; regardless of what they do w MT. Also need to improve TE & backup RB, but majority appear to acknowledge this isn’t a major need here

I really don’t think it matters who is under center. We have had winning records with Winston, Bridgewater and Hill. Just have to keep the oline and defense strong.

Think if we can keep the team intact and just bring in a vet receiver like juju or Gallup and just draft bpa every round we will be fine.

I actually think signing Winston is the popular opinion on here. Outside of a few morons who are extremely loud. I’d love to see the saints ink Winston to a 3 or 4 year team friendly deal. I think Winston is a great fit for this team and city. He is loved in the locker room and is a great leader. He’s a little goofy but that’s part of what makes him a good fit. I loved what we saw from him this year. I’d like to see him have to run less but getting a better receiving core will solve that.

This draft class is fairly deep at receiver. I think in the first 3 rounds you could snag two receivers and a tackle that could immediately play to replace the inevitable choice of Marcus Williams over armstead. I’m fine with that decision considering Marcus Williams has been elite and always healthy. Armstead is elite and he is a warrior. He plays through a lot of injuries for this team. He is very injury prone though and that is problematic. People don’t give him enough credit for the number of injuries he plays through and at a high level. The other draft pick I could see them going is guard. Our guard play has been atrocious but if you draft a guard you are replacing one of two guys you invested into recently. It will be interesting to watch.

Defensively I’d like to think Kwon loves being here and will take a team friendly deal. With his injury history I’m not really sure he is going to get a great offer anyways. Werner looked great this year and is another home run pick by the staff. He will only get better. I think the defense can be kept exactly as it is. Marcus Davenport will be the one to watch. I’d love to see them extend him on some type of bridge/prove you can stay healthy deal. If they pick up the 5th year on him that’s a 10 million dollar hit. You can criticize his ability to stay healthy but you can’t criticize how dominant he is when he plays.

As far as free agency goes I really don’t see the saints doing a ton. I could see them trying to get a little more interior d line depth in free agency. They have been very successful doing that recently. Finding some vet minimum guy that can give you 20 reps a game is great.


All that being said, this offseason is going to be a ton of fun. This staff is in win now mode and the saints are very close. Injuries have been their Achilles heel over the last few years but you have to view your team as what they would be when healthy.

Yeah you would need Armstead to take a team friendly deal. Which maybe he will do. The issue with replacing guards is as a mentioned in my previous post that they invested a good bit into those two guards recently. Ruiz will get another year. He has had some crappy circumstances that definitely didn’t help. Next year is the make it or break it year for him. Id love to see the saints move Peat but I think that would be really hard. I don’t think the saints would replace Ruiz just yet. I think they start considering it next year if he plays poorly again.

Gotta make notable decisions on:

-Winston
-Armstead
-Marcus Williams
-Kwon
-TQS

Then in FA, address these as needed:

-QB (if not Jameis)
-WR
-OG
-OT (if Armstead walks)
-LB (if Kwon walks)
-FS (if Williams walks)

In the draft, the team will likely go with their typical strategy of just getting the best players at their slot. Hopefully it aligns with some of these needs (especially WR, which have a short ramp up in 2022).


Long story short, the list of real needs on this team isn’t very long. The core of the defense will be back, and that defense is elite. The team is capable of getting 30m in the green in cap space fairly easily with no cuts.

So the go forward plan is likely just to figure out QB, grab 1-2 decent FAs, reload in the draft, and hope that with more time together/chemistry + improved health next year, we can come back and make it happen.

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Santa need a superstar RB

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