Not so sureā¦ Billās pass rush aināt great, albeit it was better against Ravensā¦ He may not have to do much running.
Life after Drew Brees: What Sean Payton must do to rebuild the Saints
By Michael Lombardi Jan 19, 2021
140 
Drew Breesā 9,421st pass playing for the New Orleans Saints landed in the wrong teamās hands. Defensive back Mike Edwards caught the tipped pass, danced his feet along the sideline and ended the game to secure the Bucsā ticket to the NFC Championship Game. Edwards might have ended many other things with his catch, and likely provided the answer to trivia questions in years to come at bars in the French Quarter: Who caught Breesā last pass as a Saint? The pass was not typical of so many of the ones weāve seen Brees throw over his storied career. This one floated, thrown into coverage with no real chance of success. It was a desperate throw from a man who rarely played with desperation, who rarely allowed the ball to hit the ground or fall into the opponentsā arms.
In the weeks to come, there might be a big party to celebrate the incredible success of the man who completed 68.6 percent of all his Saints passes, won 151 games, nine playoff games, and one Super Bowl as he retires from the game he has played for 20 seasons. Brees will take time to consider next year: time can be his friend now as he moves away from the field and into the broadcast booth as part of the NBC Sunday Night game crew. No one (including me) thinks Brees can return, in part due to his diminishing skills, but in a larger, more significant part, because the Saints team he walked off the field from on Sunday will not be the same Saints team next April. The Saints have a major reconstruction ahead of them, one that cannot include an aging quarterback who commands $25 million cash dollars and holds a cap number of $36.1 million. The Saints are in cap hell starting today ā and Brees not being on the roster allows them to liquidate their mounting problems slowly.
Over the last three seasons, the Saints have gone āall inā concerning their spending, cap management, and team roster construction. They were Mike McDermott of Rounders fame (a 1998 movie about poker) watching the other teams as they moved all their chips to the middle of the table to make sure they had the best Super Bowl-competing hand. And they did have a great hand: over the last three seasons, including playoffs, the Saints are second in the NFL in wins, with 39. Kansas City is first with 42. They have been jinxed with bad calls, bad tackling and strange endings, and as a result, never reached another Super Bowl despite all their efforts. They have fallen ever so short ā and now they are left cleaning up the unexpected mess, as the cap decreases this season due to COVID-19, and the Saints have to reduce more than $90 million of payroll to get back to 2020 cap numbers. If the cap decreases below 2020 levels, the Saintsā problems grow larger. No one saw a cap reduction coming; most playoff-type teams with a star quarterback were willing to play the āWhimpy Game,ā gladly paying later for something today. But now, because of COVID, everyone must cut their roster to comply.
The Saints have 45 players under contract for next year, Brees included. Once he announces his retirement, the Saints will lower his base salary, then use the June 1 designation to lower their cap charge. Brees is easy to handle ā as much as the Saints love him as a player, person and community leader, they cannot continue with him under center. This changing of the guard will allow the Saints to do an honest self-reflection, a deeper dive into their roster, asking one simple question: will this player be on our roster in 2023 making a significant contribution? Being on the team in 2021 is meaningless, as the Saints need this time not to reload but repair, to get their salary cap in order so they can make another long run with whomever they pick as their heir apparent to Brees. Is that Taysom Hill? Maybe. 2021 will provide many clues, as he is due to make more than $10 million next year, with a $16.1 million cap charge, then become a free agent. If the Saints feel he is their man, they could redo his deal, extend his contract, thus saving them room in 2021. If not, they can continue to use him in his role (they would get little relief in releasing or trading him) and look into the draft for their future quarterback. One benefit of the 2020 season is that Saints head coach Sean Payton knows way more about Hillās validity as a starter than he did before the season began.
Payton knows how to coach and evaluate quarterbacks, making his rebuild easier to execute. Payton will build the next three-to-four years off of making sure he has someone under center who gives him a chance to compete at the highest level. That search for the correct answer starts today. He will evaluate all the top quarterbacks in the draft, and knowing how Payton operates, if he falls in love with a certain player, he will trade as many assets to acquire the quarterback who stole his heart. Donāt forget, Payton was trying to move higher in the 2017 draft to acquire Patrick Mahomes when Brees was still playing well. The Chiefs knew they needed to outfox the Saints in that draft, they had strong intel of the Saintsā interest, and knew that any leaking of their intentions might have ruined their master plan. (The Mahomes backchanneling drafting might make a wonderful NFL documentary, as the entire story and ramifications have yet to be told in honest detail.)
Paytonās skill as a quarterback evaluator allows him to have a distinctive advantage in rebuilding efforts. Any of the NFC South competitors will know Paytonās master plan from his actions regarding the teamās most important position. Payton has been in complete harmony with his quarterback for the last 15 seasons. As a former quarterback from Eastern Illinois who played in the NFL during the 1987 strike, Payton saw Brees as an extension of himself, which is not uncommon for any quarterback coach. The way Brees played, understood and prepared for the game was similar to how Payton would approach the game as a player and now coach. Payton was a gym rat as a player and is still one as a coach. He sees the game through the quarterbackās eyes and does everything to make sure that he is synchronized with that player. Payton is not changing the offense. Payton is an adapter; he will find someone who fits the offense and then modify it to fit his skills accordingly.
Could this player be Jameis Winston? Perhaps, and if that is the case, then expect Winston not to become a free agent, as the Saints will make a deal with him before the free-agent period, which would allow them to build their future team around his cap charges. If not, Winston will be a free agent, and everyone will want to know from the Saints what they didnāt love about Winston. Hill playing before Winston when Brees was injured is not relevant, as Hill was promised a chance to start before signing his extension. Hill was one more bad play away from being replaced in the Eagles game when he did have the chance to start, but the defense not keeping the Eagles from scoring eliminated that from happening. Winston is not right for Payton, as he does not protect the ball well enough or complete a high enough percentage of throws. He is still too much of high risk, high reward thrower, which makes him a bad match for the offense. Still, we will all have Paytonās answer on Winston in the coming weeks.
With running back Alvin Kamara and wide receiver Michael Thomas, Payton has two players in the top five of their positions, a great starting point in his revamped offense. Payton comes from the Bill Parcells school of team building; thus, he will make sure none of his top offensive linemen are included in his salary cap purge. Payton will trim the fat in other areas, knowing that the line is a key position with certain skill players and quarterbacking.
As for his defense, expect major turnover. They will keep their best players ā linebacker Demario Davis, defensive end Cameron Jordan and corner Marshon Lattimore. Once the Saints rid themselves of high-priced players, they will have to rely on the draft and low-end free agents to fill the roster. Next year, they will have seven or eight high-priced players on both sides of the ball, then a bunch of minimum salary players to help rebuild the roster. General manager Mickey Loomis will need to have a great draft and an even better college free agent signing period to supplement the roster with youthful players who might develop into solid role players. The Saints will find talent later in the draft because thatās their only option. When money cannot solve all your problems, teams are forced to become more patient, more willing to coach young players, and lo and behold, they uncover a diamond in the rough. Finding those diamonds in different places will be the key to their turnaround.
For Saints fans, you had a good run. One year of not being the best team isnāt that hard to endure, considering all the success the combo of Brees and Payton had provided. Yes, winning just one Super Bowl feels shallow considering the 151 wins counting playoffs that youāve witnessed over the last 15 seasons. The good part is only one person in the partnership is leaving. Payton will need to be at his best to develop and practice extreme patience, understanding the future is more important than next season. He will need to use all his skills to find his new partner, making the next championship run perhaps even more successful.
Our best to Drew Brees, whatever he decides, as he has been a joy to watch the last 20 years. I wish it wasnāt Mike Edwards catching his last pass.
Is Thomas not agitating a move? Bit OTT on the Payton praiseā¦
Andy Reid said Mahomes took every snap in training yesterday and he feels good, little pinched nerve aināt going to stop Paddy
1 Like
Is he still in the concussion protocol?
I hope heās fit and ready to rollā¦ Potential to be a cracking game.
So Jags hired Trent Baalke as GM. Canāt see him, Meyer and Khan coexisting, while Lawrence will be surrounded by a load of draft picks recovering from ACL tears
Baalke 
By all accounts Dan Campbell has knocked his opening press conference as the Lions HC out of the park.
Whatever happens its going to be fun
āWeāre going to kick you in the teeth and when you punch us back weāre going to smile at you. And when you knock us down weāre going to get up, and on the way up weāre going to bite a kneecap off.ā
I never knew the Saints were trying to go after Mahomes. How different things could have been.
Payton is well able to find diamonds in the undrafted free agent market - Deonte Harris being the most obvious example in recent years.
2 Likes
This lad wonāt last long
1 Like
hopefully thats the way it goes but i feel that it will be the exact opposite
Detroit people are sick of being the poor relation in America. The city was more responsible than other for wealth created in America 100 years ago and snobs just laugh at the place. If the team fight like he says the locals will love their lions again.
whenever i think of detroit i think of the telethon in robocop 2
Well Iād only love to see it. He comes across as a bit of a dimwit though
1 Like
Yeah heās still in concussion protocol, will need the team doctor and an independent doctor to give him the all clear.
Bills must go favorites if he doesnāt play
Dwayne Haskins to the Steelers
1 Like
Siriannis Army
The teams this weekend both played each other in week 6. Thats a very weird quirk.