The Saints just wrapped up a Monday Night Football matchup against division rival Tampa Bay Bucs. The Saints blew a 16-3 lead and loss the game. Poor coaching is very evident on the Saints and has been clear from the beginning. Even as far back as Training Camp you could kind of see that something seemed off. Dennis Allen should be on his way out the door soon (hopefully).
The Saints have a 4-9 record with only 4 games left in the season, and I am certain all Saints will agree, we are ready for this season to be done. The offseason we should see some changes not only to the staff but also roster at certain positions.
This isn't a rebuild. This is a refurbish. Let's look at a step by step guide on what my personal perfect Saints Offseason would look like to help the Saints get refurbished the right way.
Step 1: Fire Dennis Allen
Where you expecting anything else to be Step 1? Let's be real here, the Dennis Allen experiment has been an utter disaster. Dennis Allen as a Head Coach averages 4 wins a season and every team he's coached has had inconsistency on both sides of the ball. You can also tell Pete Carmichael Jr. to pack his bags and follow Dennis Allen out the door. Only thing I have to compare this situation to is what the Pelicans went through last year when Stan Van Gundy was Head Coach and was one and done and Pelicans found Willie Green. Saints can and should go find their Willie Green.
Solution:
The is an easy solution to this. I know folks reading this know how high I am on Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, and I still believe he should be number one on the Saints' Head Coach shortlist. There's other coaches on my personal short list the Saints should look at:
Eagles OC Shane Steichen
Vikings OC Wes Phillips
Bills OC Ken Dorsey
Dream/Perfect Coaching Staff:
Head Coach: Eric Bieniemy or Shane Steichen
Offensive Coordinator: Frank Reich or Brian Johnson
Defensive Coordinator: Vic Fangio or Andre Curtis
Step 2: Draft/Sign a QB
The QB Room for the Saints this season to put it nicely has been a huge, utter disappointment. Jameis Winston looked bad after injuring himself in that Falcons game. He hasn't played since the week 3 Panthers game and that honestly should be the last we see of him in a Saints uniform. Let's also be honest, if the Saints thought he was THE guy they wouldn't have gone after Deshaun Watson so hard.
The "savvy vet" Andy Dalton has been more or less not that great or just down right not good. Just trying to be nice here people. I picked Andy Dalton as the better option over Jameis during Training Camp, but both have been bad for the Saints. After week 17 that should be the last time we Dalton in a Saints uniform.
Solution:
If you are going to do this right you are going to need a Free Agent bridge QB to help pave the way for (hopefully) your rookie second round draft pick of a QB. There are many good options to go with Free Agent wise and Draft wise.
UFA Gardner Minshew
RFA Tyler Huntley
UFA Jimmy Garoppolo
RFA PJ Walker
Draft Hendon Hooker
Draft Will Levis (via trade up)
Draft Sam Hartman
Draft Grayson McCall
Final Step: Revamp the Defense
The Saints defense that was once a top 5 defense year in and year out for the last few years looks absolutely atrocious. A defensive head coach with a bad defense. Oh the absolute irony. Many of the offseason additions have not helped and neither have inquires.
Tyrann Mathieu who us as Saints fans have wanted to see in a Saints uniform since his LSU days looks like father time has caught up to him sadly.
Marcus Maye at the other Safety position hasn't looked how many expected he would either. What looked like a deep secondary on paper now looks like the complete opposite. Trading someone like CJ Gardner-Johnson away for scraps and letting Marcus Williams walk in FA has definitely paid dividends for the Saints (speaking sarcastically of course).
The only highlight for this defense is the LB group. None more. Time to revamp the defense.
Solution:
For starters, you have to get rid of the Co-Coordinators because that hasn't worked and we know that they really do not call the defensive plays. Get an actual DC in there.
Draft or Sign young DBs and DL. Those are the week points on the defense that need a refresh. You can keep Lattimore, Taylor, and Adebo but you need to invest time in fixing your safety positions. You can keep Tyrann but get a younger Safety via FA or Draft to rotate with him in and out.
Draft and sign a replacement for David Onyemata because it feels like he will be elsewhere next season.
Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio
Defensive Coordinator Andre Curtis
Defensive Coordinator Eric Henderson
UFA DT Da'Ron Payne
UFA Safety Jessie Bates
UFA CB Byron Murphy
Draft DT Colby Wooten
Draft DT Byron Young
Draft Safety Jay Ward
Draft Safety Kenny Logan Jr.
Draft CB Devon Witherspoon
Conclusion
In conclusion, there's easy fixes and then some not so easy. Mickey Loomis and Gayle Benson have a ton of decisions to make once the season wraps up in January.
To sum it all up it is quite easy to see what needs to be fixed. HC, OC, QB, DT, S, CB, and I will throw RB in there too.
Gayle Benson needs to do what she did with the Pelicans last year and save the franchise and quickly because the Saints are a ship on the verge of hitting an iceberg and sinking if changes do not happen come January. According to my source, some changes will be coming after the season. Now, we just have to play the waiting game and wait for them to happen.
I'd like to add also that the Saints should not tank whatsoever. That isn't an option. That would set us back in my opinion.
That is all I have for you guys. Check back soon because more content will be out soon. Thanks for reading!
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