The New Orleans Saints finished their season with a 9-8 record after their dominating 48-17 victory in the season finale vs the Falcons, but their impressive play came too little and too late. 

The Saints lost the division and a shot at the playoffs for the third year in a row, and for the second time in two seasons under head coach Dennis Allen.

After coming into the season with high hopes, the Saints left fans disappointed and calling for changes throughout the organization after underperforming week-in and week-out.

Saints Offensive Woes

A blatant issue with the Saints this season was their struggles offensively, and more specifically, running the football. The Saints finished second-to-last in the NFL in yards per carry, and outside of the top 20 in rushing yards per game. 

Saints leading rusher Alvin Kamara had arguably the worst rushing season of his career, posting a measly 694 yards on 3.9 yards per carry. Kamara also had a 48.3% success rate on his carries, the worst of his career outside of his injury riddled season in 2021 in which he only started 10 games, per Football Outsiders. Kamara also failed to have an explosive run (a rush of more than 20 yards) all season.

The rushing woes caused the Saints to rely more on the passing game than previously expected.

The Saints wide receivers stepped up and were the bright spot of the offense all season. Chris Olave saw an increase in yards, targets, catches, touchdowns, and first downs achieved from his rookie year. Round 6 rookie A.T. Perry replaced Michael Thomas after his injury and ended the season with a breakout game, catching three passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns. The expectation is that he carries this momentum into next season with an increased role.

Michael Thomas returned this season and posted 39 catches for 449 yards and one touchdown before suffering a knee injury in the first quarter vs the Vikings. After the injury Thomas was put on injured reserve (IR) and never returned for the rest of the season. This marks the fourth straight season Thomas has failed to start at least half of the games following his record setting season in 2019 when he won Offensive Player of the Year. His injury called for other players to step up into a bigger role and Rashid Shaheed did just that.

Shaheed posted over 700 yards and five touchdowns in the 15 games he appeared in. Shaheed also put up over 850 return yards and a touchdown while being chosen as the NFC return specialist of this year’s Pro Bowl and securing a spot on the AP All-Pro first team.

Although the receivers performed at a high level all season, the passing game failed to meet expectations.

The Saints passing offense was more efficient and committed fewer turnovers than 2022, but it still finished in the bottom half of the league in yards per pass, and outside of the top 10 in pass yards per game.

Saints quarterback Derek Carr was brought in on a $150 million deal to push the Saints over the hump and into the playoffs but failed to do so. Carr threw for 3,878 yards and completed 68.4% of passes, while tacking on 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, but failed to make enough plays down the stretch to win the most important games. Carr also lacked his typical clutch gene, not producing a fourth quarter comeback all season for the first time in his career, while posting one game winning drive all season, matching his career low.

However, some could argue his presence was needed.

In the three games this season Carr left due to injury, (Packers, Vikings, Lions) the Saints lost all three by an average of 4.6 points. When backup quarterback Jameis Winston entered the game for Carr after he was injured, offensive efficiency dropped significantly. Winston tossed for 264 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the three games he entered after Carr was hurt. He did this while completing 54.3% of passes, a 14% drop off from Carr.

Regardless, Carr was not significantly more effective than last years starter, Andy Dalton, despite the major pay gap. Against a top 10 schedule difficulty, Dalton, in 14 starts, tossed for just shy of 3,000 yards and 18 touchdowns, all while playing on a $3 million contract. Carr, against the easiest schedule in the NFL, and a $150 million contract, could not move the needle enough to propel the Saints into the playoffs. Although it seems the Saints will continue with Derek Carr as the starter again next season, he may be playing for his job as a starter if the Saints offense fails to improve.

Overall the Saints offense seemed to never click throughout the season as they finished outside the top ten in major statistical categories, including yards per game, third down conversions, fourth down conversions, and red zone scoring, according to NFL.com.

Saints Defense Shines

The New Orleans Saints defense shined this season in a big way, helping keep the Saints in many games throughout the season in which the offense struggled to put up points.

A major factor in this season’s defensive bounce back came by forcing turnovers. This year, the team finished with 29 takeaways, good enough for 4th in the NFL. This more than doubled their total from last year, when they posted only 14. These takeaways helped the Saints tie for third in turnover differential this season at plus 11, a massive change from last season when the Saints finished second-to-last at minus 11.

The Saint’s pass defense was electric all season, showing no signs of slowing down despite being the third-oldest secondary in the NFL. Defensive backs Paulson Adebo and Tyrann Mathieu were dominant, combining for 151 tackles, 19 passes defended, and 8 interceptions. Unexpectedly, cheap free agent signings Isaac Yiadom and Jonathan Abram stood out while replacing two injured veterans in Marshon Lattimore and Marcus Maye. The addition of Lattimore and Maye back into the lineup next season should only propel the Saints defense, as availability was the only weakness of this Saints secondary. As a group, the Saints pass defense was able to chart second in the NFL in opponent completion percentage, while charting in the top 10 in pass yards per game allowed and yards per pass allowed.

The Saints linebackers complimented the secondary perfectly, being consistent and available all season. 

Demario Davis had another incredible year late into his career, being selected to an AP-All Pro team for the 5th straight year, while being selected to his second straight Pro Bowl. Davis did this while continuing to mentor Pete Werner to be his replacement. Davis charted 121 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and four passes defended, while Werner tacked on 93 tackles and four tackles for loss. Davis and Werner were constant difference makers in the run and pass game all season, and combined they appeared in all but one game. Although the linebackers and secondary were top tier, the defensive line was the weakest link of the defense.

The defensive line both struggled to defend the run and rush the passer on a consistent rate all season. For instance, the Saints finished bottom 10 in both opponent yards per rush and opponent rush yards per game. Against the pass, the Saints defensive line charted 34 sacks and a 5.74% sack rate, both fourth worst in the league. The Saints also failed to have a pass rusher sack the quarterback 10 or more times, a stat 20 other NFL teams were capable of achieving.  

Defensive end Carl Granderson led the defensive line with 8.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss, but no other defensive lineman charted over five sacks or 10 tackles for loss. Veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan played in all 17 games in his 13th season but was banged up with a plethora of injuries, including a sprained ankle. This led to him posting his lowest sack (2) and tackle for loss (3) totals since his rookie year.

Local media recently asked him about his future and any thoughts of retiring, but Jordan is confident he is not ready to hang up the uniform just yet. “I love the Saints too much to retire. I love this locker room, I love everything about it. I’ve got too much juice to give.”

With Jordan and Granderson locked into the edge position for at least one more season together, the Saints will have to focus on improving and developing the interior of the defensive line both against the rush and the pass. The focal point of this development will be last year’s first round pick Bryan Bresee. After posting 4.5 sacks and 7 tackles for loss, the biggest focus will be developing Bresee as a run stopper inside, while potentially selecting another defensive lineman in the upcoming draft.

Future Plans

With many holes to fill and the oldest roster in the NFL, the Saints will certainly be searching to make changes with both coaches and players. On January 16, 2024, Saints head coach Dennis Allen announced the team had let go of offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael after 18 seasons with the Saints.

In Allen’s interview with the media he stated “These types of decisions are never easy to come to, but are necessary as we move forward.” The Saints have begun searching for his replacement, bringing in a number of young and innovative coaches from all around the league.

As of February 2nd, 2024, the Saints have made no official announcement on who the next offensive coordinator will be, although Adam Schefter reported that the Saints are working to hire 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak.

Since the 49ers are playing in the Superbowl this upcoming Sunday, no deal can be finalized until his season with the team is over.

The Saints will also have a difficult time rebuilding this roster in free agency for next season, as they are currently at -$83 million in cap space. Therefore, fans should expect a lot of contract restructuring from players such as Marshon Lattimore, Demario Davis, and Derek Carr, as the Saints work to get below the cap limit before next season.

The Saints will also struggle to retool their roster in the upcoming draft, as they have only two picks in the first four rounds, picks 14 and 45. The Saints scouts will have to search for hidden gems late into the draft with their seven picks in the final three rounds.

The biggest focus for the draft will likely be in the trenches, hopefully bolstering a weak offensive and defensive line. Outside of the trenches, the Saints could look to grab another playmaker on the offensive side of the ball with the likely pending free agency of Michael Thomas. Besides the defensive line, the Saints could look towards grabbing a safety or defensive back as both starting safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye, along with breakout cornerback Paulson Adebo, will become free agents after next season.

Another concern is the Saints’ 2024 schedule. The official schedule for the 2024 season has yet to be released, but their opponents have, and they are no easy task. They will play seven teams who appeared in the 2023 playoffs, along with a headliner game at home vs. former Saints head coach Sean Payton and his Denver Broncos. This will amount to a possible make or break season for head coach Dennis Allen, who will be on the hot seat if he fails to make the playoffs once again.

To keep up with the upcoming changes in the Saints organization, tune in to NFL free agency, which begins March 13, 2024, as well as the NFL draft which is from April 25-27, 2024.

Photo credit for featured image: Cooper Neill/Getty Images