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Saints Legend Marques Colston Reveals the Fix for Reeling Franchise—Exclusive

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Sep 25, 2025 8:34 AM ET

As easy as it might be to forget, especially given their 2009 Super Bowl run and later NFC South dominance, the New Orleans Saints weren’t quite a powerhouse when wide receiver Marques Colston arrived nearly two decades ago.

The Saints used a seventh-round pick on Colston, one of the greatest players in Hofstra history, in the 2006 NFL Draft. At the time, the Saints were fresh off a 3-13 season, their third 13-loss campaign since 1996.

Even reaching three wins might be a miracle for the current Saints, who have been outscored 90-47 and have the league’s fourth-worst offense through three games. First-year head coach Kellen Moore oversees a winless Saints team with no answer at quarterback, $92 million in dead money (trailing only the 3-0 San Francisco 49ers), and a lack of impactful young players.

“There’s just a lot of change,” Colston told Athlon this week, “and when you have a lot of change, you have these ebbs and flows. I think the litmus test for them is just going to be weathering this storm that they’re in [right now], and you see how they climb through it.

“That’s really the best thing you can do with a start like this,” Colston continued, “is persevere through it, learn the lessons that you can, and hopefully those lessons apply to wins down the road.”

Meet, Byron Murphy II.

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The Saints have not reached the playoffs since Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season. Last year’s 5-12 finish marked the Saints’ worst record since, fittingly enough, 2005.

“You can’t be up forever,” Colston said. “I don’t know any franchise that has been up for the last decade.”

Marques Colston Still Believes the Saints Can Get Back on Track

As bad as things are, Colston’s insight is especially intriguing given his part in the Saints’ previous resurgence. New Orleans only reached the playoffs once from 1993 through 2005, frequently finishing with 6-8 wins and sitting comfortably as a middling, middle-of-the-road franchise.

Then came Brees and Colston, who joined an already-established group featuring veteran running back Deuce McAllister, 2005 first-round pick and promising left tackle Jammal Brown, and talented pass-rushers Will Smith and Scott Fujita. USC running back Reggie Bush joined the mix, as did first-year head coach Sean Payton, and the Saints reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time in team history.

Colston recorded six 1,000-yard seasons in his first seven years. New Orleans made four postseason appearances in that span, with the Brees-and-Colston duo frequently tormenting opposing defenses.

“I wasn’t a known commodity coming into the league,” Colston reflected. “When Drew got to the Saints, he could barely throw the ball 15 yards coming off that shoulder injury. ... It was a process, and the hope is that the folks that are in the building there now are, hopefully, at the beginning stages of that process.”

Last week’s blowout loss at Seattle makes it easy to forget the Saints only lost by a combined 12 points to the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals. Sunday’s road showdown with the undefeated Buffalo Bills is an excellent opportunity for the Saints to prove that, for all of their woes and warts, there might still be hope at the end of the tunnel.

“Look, you’re playing against the best 32 teams in the world,” Colston said. “These are the best 1,800 guys in the world at what they do. The margin for error is always gonna be slim.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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