Where do we go from here?

[JMG5]

Not a post about the sky falling or how we're somehow screwed because we lost our head coach and HoF QB in back to back seasons. We will certainly take a step back, but I'm curious as to what you guys think we should do going forward.

Who do we let leave in free agency? Who do we attempt to sign? Who should be our coach? Who should we draft? We do you think will be our QB next season? Do you think we should make any trades?

Personally I think we should give DA a second chance as HC. He's proven to be able to coach that unit well and maybe he's learned under Sean the last few years to fix the mistake from his previous tenure as a HC in Oakland. I would also like for us to bring back William's and Armstead, but that seems unlikely with our cap situation. Williams because I don't see us replacing him easily. Good FS are hard to find and it took us a very long time to find one. Armstead because not only is he a great LT, but I think his leadership is invaluable right now. Going through a sudden transition like this we need all of the leaders we can get. As for the draft, I still think WR is a huge need. If we lose William's or Armstead then those positions also become big needs. As for trades, none. I don't want to see us blow anything up or try to made a splash trade for a QB. I think we should actually give ourselves a year to see what we have without SP and then hopefully draft a young QB the following year.

[whodatworm23]

13 hours ago, JMG5 said:

Not a post about the sky falling or how we're somehow screwed because we lost our head coach and HoF QB in back to back seasons. We will certainly take a step back, but I'm curious as to what you guys think we should do going forward.

Who do we let leave in free agency? Who do we attempt to sign? Who should be our coach? Who should we draft? We do you think will be our QB next season? Do you think we should make any trades?

Personally I think we should give DA a second chance as HC. He's proven to be able to coach that unit well and maybe he's learned under Sean the last few years to fix the mistake from his previous tenure as a HC in Oakland. I would also like for us to bring back William's and Armstead, but that seems unlikely with our cap situation. Williams because I don't see us replacing him easily. Good FS are hard to find and it took us a very long time to find one. Armstead because not only is he a great LT, but I think his leadership is invaluable right now. Going through a sudden transition like this we need all of the leaders we can get. As for the draft, I still think WR is a huge need. If we lose William's or Armstead then those positions also become big needs. As for trades, none. I don't want to see us blow anything up or try to made a splash trade for a QB. I think we should actually give ourselves a year to see what we have without SP and then hopefully draft a young QB the following year.

Been a while for me... had a life scare with Covid and took alot of time away from sports for health reasons. However I wanted to drop back in and check in with all you guys after the news of Payton stepping down.

 

I wasn't that surprised. SP was rumored to want out back in 2016, then in 2018 and now finally stepping down after the 2021 season. Parcells was always at Payton about staying in one spot to long and becoming complacent and he finally heeded those warnings and he spoke to them during his farewell presser. No doubt its the end of the golden era of Saints football and its bittersweet. The game goes on though. 

 

Moving fwd it seems most are advocating for the promotion of Dennis Allen. My fear with that is don't hire DA simply to carry on Paytons culture. Head coaches need to be able to cultivate there own culture or it will never truly be their team or franchise. Sometimes as Payton said, you need to be able to get outside your comfort zone and make decisions that best challenge your competitive nature. Maybe that goes for us as a franchise as well... maybe SP knew exactly what the issue was here recently. Everyone had become far to complacent and a shake up is needed otherwise it will simply be more of the same.

 

Just a thought

 

WHODAT 

[Mid Iowa]

Welcome back, Worm. Glad you're doing better.

BYRON LEFTWICH!!!
This guy has been really good (except against the Saints) and seems to have all the makings of a great, future head coach. 

Brian Flores - His departure from the Dolphins really shocked me. They were the hottest team in the second half of this season, and he's built a really good defense pretty much from scratch.

Dennis Allen - I mean hey, the guy knows the defense guys, and they seem to respond well to him. I'd like to retain him in some form, and I think HC might be a good fit for him.

Eric Bieniemy - He's from New Orleans (not that it really matters) but ultimately, he's really done a great job in KC controlling their offense. Sure, he's got Mahomes. Well, we had Brees for years with only 1 Super Bowl appearance, so I like the odds that Bieniemy could bring.

Joe Lombardi? - He had 2 good stints with the Saints and we saw a strong offense when he was in as QB coach. I wonder what he could do with Winston....

NO to: Doug Peterson, Mike Zimmer, Aaron Glenn, Todd Bowles, Dan Quinn, or anyone from the Bill Billeckeck regime.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[whodatworm23]

54 minutes ago, Mid Iowa said:

Welcome back, Worm. Glad you're doing better.

BYRON LEFTWICH!!!
This guy has been really good (except against the Saints) and seems to have all the makings of a great, future head coach. 

Brian Flores - His departure from the Dolphins really shocked me. They were the hottest team in the second half of this season, and he's built a really good defense pretty much from scratch.

Dennis Allen - I mean hey, the guy knows the defense guys, and they seem to respond well to him. I'd like to retain him in some form, and I think HC might be a good fit for him.

Eric Bieniemy - He's from New Orleans (not that it really matters) but ultimately, he's really done a great job in KC controlling their offense. Sure, he's got Mahomes. Well, we had Brees for years with only 1 Super Bowl appearance, so I like the odds that Bieniemy could bring.

Joe Lombardi? - He had 2 good stints with the Saints and we saw a strong offense when he was in as QB coach. I wonder what he could do with Winston....

NO to: Doug Peterson, Mike Zimmer, Aaron Glenn, Todd Bowles, Dan Quinn, or anyone from the Bill Billeckeck regime.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Good to be back, thanks for that!

 

Completely agree. I'll also say this tho...

 

I understand the reasoning behind the DA support and if hired I think he'll do a fine job. I'm not sure if he will be the long term answer but he might be the best short term one. However if the Saints VP Mickey Loomis does however go outside his comfort zone once again as he did with the Payton hire, I do hope that he gives full consideration to a minority HC candidate. 

 

Now let me follow that by stating that I firmly believe that the color of someone's skin.should never be the determining factor in hiring a coach. All im saying is that I'd hope that the final qualified guy would be a minority. The reason for this is I do believe that 1 out of 32 is absolutely ridiculous and I'd like to see the Saints step up next to the Steelers leading the way towards rectifying this wrong. 

 

I'm actually a very big fan of Aaron Glenn. He's another former Parcells guy who Bill has always said was maybe the smartest player he's ever coached. He grew up under Bill and Payton and could be a guy hired and keep all other coaches in place and that includes Allen at DC as they are close friends.  Glenn is also very well respected by players across the NFL. Either way I trust Mickey Loomis to make the right decision for the Saints moving fwd in both the short and long term.

[JMG5]

9 hours ago, whodatworm23 said:

Been a while for me... had a life scare with Covid and took alot of time away from sports for health reasons. However I wanted to drop back in and check in with all you guys after the news of Payton stepping down.

 

I wasn't that surprised. SP was rumored to want out back in 2016, then in 2018 and now finally stepping down after the 2021 season. Parcells was always at Payton about staying in one spot to long and becoming complacent and he finally heeded those warnings and he spoke to them during his farewell presser. No doubt its the end of the golden era of Saints football and its bittersweet. The game goes on though. 

 

Moving fwd it seems most are advocating for the promotion of Dennis Allen. My fear with that is don't hire DA simply to carry on Paytons culture. Head coaches need to be able to cultivate there own culture or it will never truly be their team or franchise. Sometimes as Payton said, you need to be able to get outside your comfort zone and make decisions that best challenge your competitive nature. Maybe that goes for us as a franchise as well... maybe SP knew exactly what the issue was here recently. Everyone had become far to complacent and a shake up is needed otherwise it will simply be more of the same.

 

Just a thought

 

WHODAT 

Glad you're doing better, man. 

This has always been in the back of my mind with Payton. Definitely not surprised he decided to step away. Rumors have been happening for years. I think the reality of no longer having Drew really hit him as the season went on.

[Jlowe22]

Regardless of who is the coach and even if it had been Payton, the question is will we get a QB or will we not get a QB. Until the answer is yes, we won't be a serious threat to anyone.

[Mid Iowa]

21 hours ago, whodatworm23 said:

I'm actually a very big fan of Aaron Glenn. He's another former Parcells guy who Bill has always said was maybe the smartest player he's ever coached. He grew up under Bill and Payton and could be a guy hired and keep all other coaches in place and that includes Allen at DC as they are close friends.  Glenn is also very well respected by players across the NFL. Either way I trust Mickey Loomis to make the right decision for the Saints moving fwd in both the short and long term.

I "like" Aaron Glenn. My only issue with him is that when he was our DB's coach, they continually regressed. He went to Detroit, we got better quickly. So, a HC position is obviously different than coaching DB's, but it just makes me nervous.

I hope we get a lucky strike like a Tony Dungy, or Bill Bellicshresk, or Andy Ried etc... These guys were great when they made some changes.

Anywho, out of my hands, so I'll just hope for a strong free agency and draft, and perhaps we can get back into contention quickly.

[whodatworm23]

Its clear Mickey is doing his due diligence as he did in the 06 search that landed Payton. I'm happy he's not just annointing DA the next in line and is actually conducting a comprehensive search. I love the fact that they will interview Brian Flores, Brian Leftwich and Aaron Glenn. I suspect they will add another name at some point. They interviewed 5 candidates when they hired Payton.

 

It still might be Dennis Allen in the end but this hire is more than just a hire for the next 2 years, this hire should be one for the future as well as the present.

[whodatworm23]

19 hours ago, JMG5 said:

Glad you're doing better, man. 

This has always been in the back of my mind with Payton. Definitely not surprised he decided to step away. Rumors have been happening for years. I think the reality of no longer having Drew really hit him as the season went on.

It did seem throughout the season that the realization for Payton had hit him... I could tell that the season wore on him, was not shocked he stepped away.

[Dome]

4 minutes ago, whodatworm23 said:

It did seem throughout the season that the realization for Payton had hit him... I could tell that the season wore on him, was not shocked he stepped away.

By the end of the season he was constantly angry even when things were going alright all things considered… dude needed a break badly 

[whodatworm23]

1 hour ago, Dome said:

By the end of the season he was constantly angry even when things were going alright all things considered… dude needed a break badly 

Completely agree

[JMG5]

4 hours ago, whodatworm23 said:

Its clear Mickey is doing his due diligence as he did in the 06 search that landed Payton. I'm happy he's not just annointing DA the next in line and is actually conducting a comprehensive search. I love the fact that they will interview Brian Flores, Brian Leftwich and Aaron Glenn. I suspect they will add another name at some point. They interviewed 5 candidates when they hired Payton.

 

It still might be Dennis Allen in the end but this hire is more than just a hire for the next 2 years, this hire should be one for the future as well as the present.

Very pleased that he's doing his due diligence as well. Glad he's approaching it this way.

[Mid Iowa]

As for the next coach's duties:

You'll notice a theme throughout this post. "Then what?"

QB is obviously high on the list.
We still don't know what we have in Winston, and who knows, he may leave. Then what?
We DO know that Taysom Hill is NOT a franchise QB, and that was Payton's play toy. I'd be surprised if we keep Hill as anything other than a gadget guy. 
Ian Book is as raw as they come, so that's a project at best.

O-Line
We've got a great Center (McCoy) and Right Tackle (Ramczyk). Right guard (Ruiz) is okay, but not outstanding.
The left side. Between Peat and Armstead, you might get 3/4 of the season out of either of them. Armstead is so dang good when he's in, and has a great attitude... when he's in.
Then what? We have zero depth on O-line.

RB
Kamara's a stud, and he's about out of his prime.
Then what? After Kamara, we've got nothing. No depth. Please don't say Mark Ingram. I love the guy, but just no...

TE - WR
I combined these two as there's only enough "good" for 1 line.
Harris is a good threat & special teams guy, and Michael Thomas (if he's healthy) is quickly passing his prime. Then who? Calloway?
No depth at TE - WR, and barely a 1st string. This is a major needed position(s). Reminds me of having Joe Horn and Devery Henderson....

D-Line
The 2nd half of the season was much better than the 1st half, but who do we have? Cam Jordan is well past his prime, and going into his 12th season at 33 years old.
Davenport is fragile. So disruptive, so fast, and so fragile. And good, I like him on the roster, but he's not "depth" per se.
Our interior guys are Shy Tuttle and David Onyemata. They're stout, especially against the run. And our backup ends are??
No real "then what" here. I think our D-line could use some work, but they're pretty stout, especially against the run.

Linebacker
Demario Davis is such a freak stud, and I'm sure he'll go hard another year or two, but he's 32 and going into his 11 season (10th of play). I do like his backup, Pete Werner.
Then what? Kwon is fast, and usually late to the party. He's not that good.
Zach Baun is serviceable, at best.

Cornerback
We know what we've got in Lattimore, and I think we all like what we've got.
I think Paulson Adebo is mega legit. In fact, I think he & Lattimore may become the best CB tandem in the league next season. Kudos again to the Ireland staff.
Throw in some Bradly Roby & a little Ken Crawly... pretty solid! I still think we need more depth at CB, but they're pretty solid.

Safety
Cede Deuce is crazy good, the Mouth of the South, and backs up his mouth with play! Much to like here.
I'll be surprised if Malcom Jenkins returns. 13 seasons, 34 years old... and still really good, but...
Also, keeping Marcus Williams at this point is a priority. I know he's not a favorite of some people, but who's going to replace him? And he clearly connects with Dennis Allen & Co.
We need depth here! I like what we've got, but we're an injury away from yuck.

Kickin'
Our new punter, Blake Gillikin, is off the hook! Yeah, we all loved Morestead, and this kid came in and we didn't miss a beat!
When was the last time we had a potential controversy at place kicker? Wil (Big Nutz) Lutz should be healthy and then this Brett Mahar kid comes into the mix and performed pretty well. His numbers are actually just as good as Lutz.
And snapper Zach Wood just doesn't miss.
Good crew here.

Who did I leave out?

Summary, we can win a lot of games based on our current defense. We need A LOT of work on offense.

[whodatworm23]

As far as the next coach... DA is rightfully the "in house favorite". However, to me Brian Flores alters the thinking. I'm a huge fan of Flores and I see him as a young defensive version of Sean Payton. A young, confident, brash, intelligent football mind that is lazer focused on football and winning. Hes the type of candidate that can walk into the room and blow Mickey Loomis away. I love DA but that is completely baised on his ability as a DC. I love Flores for what he's done as a HC... thats a HUGE difference. I feel Flores is the better candidate while Allen may be the better short term fit. I think Loomis will eventually play it safe and hire DA but man would I love to see Flores as the new HC in NOLA!

[Fray32]

Strange days boys. I'm not sure if I internalized Payton's aggression or if we just happened to coincidentally think the same way, but I loved always announcing "Go for it" on every 3rd and short on the opponents side of the field and more often than not Payton would do just that. Hope we don't lose that too much. Less aggressive is fine, but to suddenly hire someone with a Jeff Fisher-tier mindset would destroy me. And I say that without hyperbole.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Fray32