The cap starved New Orleans Saints, led by general manager Mickey Loomis, have a lot to mull over and decide this offseason, especially given how their 2023 campaign played out. Finishing a pedestrian 9-8, the Saints missed the playoffs for the third straight season, despite playing in the weakest division in the league in the NFC South. Even worse, New Orleans is right in the middle when it comes to their mediocrity, as they aren’t good enough to be a Super Bowl contender, but aren’t bad enough to net one of the top picks in the upcoming draft.
Purgatorial mediocrity is one of the worst positions to be in as an NFL organization. New Orleans was ranked ninth in offense and 13th in defense this past season, and while that sounds good on paper, folks who watched the Saints play football in 2023 can tell you how borderline amateurish their offense looked. This incompetence culminated in 15-year offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. being fired from his job.
It’s clear that the Saints have a lot of work to do this offseason, but what is the item that should be number one on their list of priorities over the next few months? With another rough campaign in the books, let’s take a closer look at their roster to see what New Orleans’ biggest offseason need is, and why they desperately need to target some help at this spot before their upcoming campaign.
Saints biggest offseason need: Offensive line help
The Saints season-long ineffectiveness on offense was largely due to the inadequacy of the offensive line. With better offensive line play, New Orleans would be able to create bigger running lanes on the ground, and protect their quarterback in Derek Carr under center. They weren’t able to do either of these things at a high level in 2023 because of their undermanned o-line.
In their first year with Carr under center, the 4-time Pro Bowler threw for a very respectable 3878 yards and 25 scores to go along with a 97.7 passer rating and a 68.4 completion percentage. On the surface, those numbers look good, but Carr’s play was largely inconsistent for much of the year.
Of course, a big problem was that he was facing a ton of pressure from opposing defensive lines on a weekly basis, which often stymied an already offensively challenged unit. Carr had an issue with holding on to the ball too long as well, but his offensive line did him no favors.
When it comes to the gun game, the Saints were ranked 21st in the NFL, finished second to last in yards per attempt, did not have a single 100-yard rusher all season, and saw their longest carry of the season go for just 29 yards, despite the fact that their running back room was led by Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams.
The Saints have several pending free agents on their offensive line, with the group being headlined by three-time Pro Bowler Andrus Peat. While there are other guys hitting the market, New Orleans doesn’t have much cap space, and it’s unlikely they keep any of their pending offensive line free agents outside of Peat.
New Orleans is still going to need guys to play on their line, though, so they will surely be in the market for help at the spot in free agency. Some names to be on the lookout for include: left tackle Trent Brown (New England Patriots), right tackle Jonah Williams (Cincinnati Bengals), right tackle Mike Onwenu (New England Patriots), and Mekhi Becton (New York Jets). Any of these players would be able to immediately slide into a starting role for the NFL’s 26th ranked unit, but again, the price could be an issue for the Saints here.
Free agency isn’t the only avenue for New Orleans to pursue upgrades at this position, but the Saints possess only five draft picks in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. They do have their own picks in the first and second round, though, and one of those picks should be used on an offensive lineman. This isn’t the greatest collection of offensive linemen in this upcoming draft but there are more cost-effective options for New Orleans to target here if they get priced out of their top free agent options.
It’s not going to be easy for the Saints given their current salary cap situation, but they desperately need to pursue some upgrades on their offensive line this offseason. If they are unable to do so, fans who thought the 2023 season was ugly may not want to tune into their games next year, as things could be even worse in 2024.
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