Da Boot Sports!
7/21/2021
Article courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Les East


   The New Orleans Saints are beginning their most significant transition in 15 years. 
Drew Brees has retired and a dozen other key players from last year’s team are gone for a variety of reasons.  
As the start of the 2021 training camp looms in late July, the four-time defending NFC South champion Saints are still one of the more talented teams in the NFL. Sean Payton is still one of the longest-tenured and most-successful coaches in the league. 
But things are changing as New Orleans ventures into the post-Brees era. 
Crescent City Sports takes a comprehensive look at this transition in this series as a build-up to the start of training camp.

​   One of the biggest questions facing the New Orleans Saints this preseason is who will replace Janoris Jenkins as the starting left cornerback.
Will it be 12-year veteran Patrick Robinson? Or a younger veteran such as P.J. Williams or Ken Crawley? Or rookie third-round draft choice Paulson Adebo?
Or will it be someone else – perhaps someone not yet on the roster with the start of training camp looming next week?
The Saints have been in the market for a veteran at cornerback ever since they released Jenkins in a salary-cap move. Jenkins has since signed with Tennessee.
The organization was cash-strapped for much of the off-season and did more subtraction than addition to the roster.
But they have freed up enough money to sign a veteran, though one prime candidate – Richard Sherman – seemingly took himself out of consideration with his arrest for domestic violence last week. He pleaded not guilty to five misdemeanor charges related to a domestic incident at his in-laws’ house.
That’s not the only off-the-field incident that could have an impact on the Saints’ secondary. Starting right cornerback Marshon Lattimore could face disciplinary action for his off-season arrest on a felony gun charge in Ohio.
So it’s anyone’s guess who the starting cornerbacks will be when the Saints open the season against Green Bay on Sept. 12 in the Superdome.
The picture is much clearer at safety as Malcolm Jenkins (strong) and Marcus Williams (free) are entrenched as starters and C.J. Gardner-Johnson established himself as a playmaker in his second NFL season in 2020.
“We have lot of veteran guys who are willing and able to help new guys coming in and mold them,” Marcus Williams said.
Gardner-Johnson said he “felt like a kid” last season after his coaches told him “to go out there and just play football and relax.
“A lot of people play this game and go out there all tight,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I’m me. So when they said relax, slow down, just understand what you’re doing, that’s when I found my groove.”
The nickelback might as well be considered a starter because the Saints utilize a fifth defensive back roughly as much as they utilize a third linebacker. Robinson and P.J. Williams have been the primary nickelbacks the last two seasons, but if one or both are pressed into duty at corner, there will be a trickle-down effect.
First-year secondary coach Kris Richard praised Lattimore, the 2017 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a three-time Pro Bowler, for his “incredible competitive mind-set and athleticism.”
Adebo was first-team all Pac-12 Conference at Stanford two seasons ago before sitting out 2020 to focus on the draft after the league reversed course late in the summer and decided to play a shortened season.
“I think we’ve got to get him out there and throw as much at him as we possibly can and see how he responds to it,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “He’s big, long, can run, is smart, a lot of the characteristics that we like in a corner.”
Adebo said he’s “champing at the bit” to put on pads after sitting out last season.
The Saints re-signed safety J.T. Gray, who has been a special-teams standout, though they lost another special-teams leader, cornerback, Justin Hardee, to the New York Jets in free agency.
Other departures were safeties D.J. Swearinger and Karl Bademosi, and the Saints filled out the depth chart with cornerbacks Grant Haley, Keith Washington Jr., Deuce Wallace, Bryce Thompson and Lawrence Woods and safety Eric Burrell
The most significant addition to the secondary was Richard, who was brought in after Aaron Glenn was hired as defensive coordinator in Detroit.
Richard was the position coach for Seattle’s “Legion of Doom” secondary that helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl after the 2013 season and return to the title game after the 2014 season. He was defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator in Dallas for two seasons before sitting out last season after Jason Garrett and his staff were fired.
Head coach Sean Payton said Richard “did a good job” as a candidate and cited Richard’s experience, attention to detail and teaching ability as key attributes.
Allen said he has “a lot of respect for” Richard.
“I’ve admired his work,” Allen said. “He’s highly competitive. He’s extremely intelligent. He brings a championship pedigree with him that gives him instant credibility within that room.”
Allen said he’s learning from Richard, whose background is with schemes different from those Allen is most familiar with.
Richard called the opportunity to join the Saints staff “a no-brainer.”
“A lot of defense is about intensity and coverage,” Malcolm Jenkins said. “(Richard) is someone that is going to push this group, bringing that intensity to a group that has a ton of potential. It needs somebody to always be pushing the best out of us.”

Da Boot Sports!
7/17/2021
Article courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Les East


   The New Orleans Saints are beginning their most significant transition in 15 years. 
Drew Brees has retired and a dozen other key players from last year’s team are gone for a variety of reasons.  
As the start of the 2021 training camp looms in late July, the four-time defending NFC South champion Saints are still one of the more talented teams in the NFL. Sean Payton is still one of the longest-tenured and most-successful coaches in the league. 
But things are changing as New Orleans ventures into the post-Brees era.
Crescent City Sports takes a comprehensive look at this transition in this series as a build-up to the start of training camp.

​Demario Davis is clearly the New Orleans Saints’ best linebacker.
He clearly is one of the leaders of the defense and the team as a whole.
But the clarity regarding the Saints linebacking corps essentially begins and ends with him.
The other two starters from last season – Kwon Alexander and Alex Anzalone – are no longer on the roster. Anzalone signed with Detroit as a free agent and Alexander is still on the market while rehabbing from a torn Achilles that prematurely ended his only season in New Orleans.
Davis, 32, is entering his 10th NFL season and has led the Saints with an increasing number of tackles singe coming to New Orleans as a free agent – 106 in 2018, 108 in 2019 and 119 in 2020.
Davis said he continues to work at “finding new, innovative ways to take my game to the next level.”
He said that this season he has adopted an “evolved” Mediterranean diet, balancing meat and plant-based cuisine.
“It’s like I build, and I detox,” Davis said. “That was quite a transition in my diet that I think is making a huge difference. I’ve tapped into reading my sleep a little bit different. When you get to this point in your career, it’s a lot of little things.
“Continue to sharpen things that I’ve been doing, adding the little things that allow me to get one percent better, two percent better. I’ve been reading a lot of books, too, that have unlocked a lot of things mentally.”
The Saints are going to need far greater than one or two percent improvement from their younger linebackers if they’re going to excel on defense this season.
Zack Baun, a third-round draft choice in 2020, and rookie second-round draft choice Pete Werner appear to be the top candidates to play the most alongside Davis, who rarely leaves the field. But their prospects are based more on potential that an NFL track record.
The Saints, like many NFL teams, are playing nickel or dime schemes more frequently than they are their base defense, meaning they mostly use fewer than three linebackers at a time.
“Obviously with Demario, we feel great about him and his ability to play,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “We do play a lot of two-linebacker sets, so the thing I’m excited about is that when we get to training camp we’re going to let those young guys get out there and let them compete.
“May the best man win. I don’t think we’ve pigeonholed anybody into any specific spots necessarily. We’re really just trying to evaluate guys and certainly that will come once we get into training camp, but it will be a nice little battle.”
Baun was an edge rusher during his senior season at Wisconsin before the Saints moved him to the SAM spot as a rookie. The absence of off-season, on-field work last year because of COVID-19 and a hamstring injury in training camp sidelined him for several days and made the transition especially challenging.
Still, Baun played in 15 games, starting three, and made 12 tackles on defense while becoming a special-teams regular.
“I’d say the difference between this year and last year is I’m just way more comfortable,” Baun said during the Saints minicamp last month. “(I’m) comfortable with the playbook, I know everybody. I know all the coaches. I know I’m just coming into this season way more comfortable and way more confident.”
The Saints have moved Baun to WILL this season, which should provide an opportunity to play significantly more than the 82 defensive snaps he played last season.
“Certainly there were some things that he was able to do last year that gave us confidence he was ready to take the next step,” Allen said of Baun. “We all knew there was going to be a development (curve) from him in terms of being an off the ball linebacker and last year we kind of played him at Sam and Mike off the ball.
“That development was slowed and once you get in to the regular season it’s hard to find all those reps to continue develop guys.”
Werner, who demonstrated an ability to rush the passer, defend the run and play in pass coverage at Ohio State, has an opportunity to carve out a niche as a rookie because of that versatility.
“I kind of have that versatility piece where I can play a SAM and I can be inside the box,” Werner said after being drafted. “I can be outside in space.
“You talk about a guy that can fit in A or B gap, as well as lockdown a tight-end or fit well with the zone. I think that is me.”
Two years ago, seventh-round draft choice Kaden Elliss of Idaho exceeded expectations in training camp before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
The Saints, who did not re-sign special teams leader and versatile backup linebacker Craig Robertson, have several unproven linebackers competing for roster spots – Chase Hansen, Andrew Dowell, Wynton McManis, Quentin Poling, Sutton Smith, Shaq Smith and Marcus Willoughby.
“We feel like we’ve got added depth there,” head coach Sean Payton said.

Da Boot Sports!
7/17/2021
Article courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Les East


   The New Orleans Saints are beginning their most significant transition in 15 years.
Drew Brees has retired and a dozen other key players from last year’s team are gone for a variety of reasons.
As the start of the 2021 training camp looms in late July, the four-time defending NFC South champion Saints are still one of the more talented teams in the NFL. Sean Payton is still one of the longest-tenured and most-successful coaches in the league.
But things are changing as New Orleans ventures into the post-Brees era.
Crescent City Sports takes a comprehensive look at this transition in this series as a build-up to the start of training camp.
The defensive line was the New Orleans Saints’ deepest unit in 2020.
It also was the unit that sustained the most attrition during the off-season.
As a result, how well the Saints overcome the losses on the defensive line will be one of the most important factors in their success in 2021.
Gone are end Trey Hendrickson, who led the team with a career-high 13.5 sacks last season and signed with Cincinnati as an unrestricted free agent; tackle Malcolm Brown, who was the most important run defender on the line and was sent to Jacksonville in an economics-driven trade; and tackle Sheldon Rankins, who was mostly a starter for five season before signing with the New York Jets as a free agent.
The Saints’ most significant defensive line acquisition was Payton Turner, the team’s No. 1 draft choice (No. 28) from Houston.
It’s difficult to avoid seeing Turner in the same context as veteran end Marcus Davenport, whom the Saints traded up to select in the first round in 2018.
Davenport, like Turner, played for a non-Power 5 program (Texas-San Antonio).
Davenport, like Turner, was drafted a bit higher (No. 14) than the consensus of draft analysts projected.
Davenport, like Turner, was chosen more for what the Saints envision from him in the NFL than for what he produced in college.
Davenport is listed at 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, and Turner is listed as 6-6 and 270 pounds.
Defensive end Cameron Jordan called Turner “Marcus Davenport Jr.” and said his 4-year-old daughter told him “Mr. Marcus is here” when Turner visited the Jordans’ home.
After three seasons, the wisdom of the Saints selection of Davenport remains undetermined. He has shown hints of becoming the impact player the Saints expected, but has not done so with any inconsistency – partly because of a series of injuries.
He has missed 11 regular-season games, including five last season, because of injuries. After having a career-high six sacks in 2019 while making 13 of his 14 career starts, he finished with a career-low 1.5 sacks last season. His drop-off coincided with the ascension of Hendrickson at right end.
Davenport said his mental confidence lagged last season, creating hesitancy on his part. So he has focused on changing that this off-season.
“A lot of it’s just been trusting myself more,” he said. “I think it’s just that simple. I’ve seen that I can do a lot of things, and it’s just all about applying. Sometimes, I think as people we forget simple things. I forget that sometimes I can do things quite good.
“I’ve been practicing, I know the moves and I know what to do, and I’ve got coaches here to correct me. So it’s just on me to go out there and do it.”
In April, the Saints exercised the fifth-year option on Davenport for the 2022 season.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen noted that this has been Davenport’s most useful off-season after rookie contract negotiations, injury and COVID denied him important off-season work during his first three years.
“You’re beginning to see the light bulb (turn on),” Allen said. “I think we all knew when we drafted Marcus that it was going to take some time for him to develop and I think that development was from the fact that he never had a great opportunity at an off-season program. I think this off-season has been critical for him.”
If the Saints are going to avoid a significant drop-off in productivity from the defensive line this season, they likely are going to need a significant increase in productivity from Davenport, as well as contributions from Turner, who had five sacks in five games as a senior last season.
Jordan remains a fixture at left end, having earned five Pro Bowl selections while becoming the Saints’ No. 2 all-time sack leader (94.5).
Last season, Jordan had just 7.5 sacks after having 15.5 the year before. The drop-off could have been due at least in part to core muscle surgery in early 2020.
“I didn’t have to go under the knife (this off-season),” Jordan said. “I’ll take that.”
Perhaps being another year removed from the surgery will enable him to regain his 2019 form – or perhaps his age (he turns 32 next week) means he is in the early stages of the inevitable descent from the peak of his career.
Carl Granderson enters his third season as a promising backup to Jordan, having made five sacks last season. He joined the team initially as an undrafted free agent and has spent this off-season working on getting stronger, especially in his lower body, and studying film to try and improve his “get-off” as a pass rusher.
“The opportunities will be there for everyone that’s showing up to camp,” Granderson said. “Once I get stronger, I feel like everything I did last season will improve.”
The Saints added a veteran end when they signed former Chief Tanoh Kpassagnon as a free agent. Kpassagnon said the Saints were “super high” on his radar when he realized he wouldn’t be re-signing with Kansas City.
The Saints played the Chiefs last December and Kpassagnon said he was impressed with how the defensive line played.
“I saw how their defensive line especially just got after it,” he said. “You see it with their production on the field, how they stop the run, how they really get after the passer and playing them, seeing that in person really is what made that stick to me.”
Kpassagnon’s said his ability to rush the passer from the outside and the inside made him and the Saints a “perfect fit.”
“Certainly (Hendrickson) played extremely well for us,” head coach Sean Payton said. “It won’t be just one person. There’ll be a series of players that pick up for some of that production.”
The departure of Brown and Rankins left David Onyemata, like Rankins a 2016 draft choice, the leader among the tackles. He had 6.5 of his 16 career sacks last season.
Malcolm Roach and Shy Tuttle figure to move up the depth chart in Brown’s absence, and the Saints have a half dozen other young linemen on hand to compete.
“The addition of some of these younger players to the room has helped,” Payton said. “Certainly, Marcus will be healthy as we get started. (Turner) is doing well training. We feel like with that position group we’ve added some depth.”
Another key returnee is someone the Saints nearly lost.
LSU head coach Ed Orgeron was prepared to hire Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen as his defensive coordinator before Payton invoked a clause in Nielsen’s contract to prevent him from leaving, signed him to a new deal and promoted Nielsen to assistant head coach.
Young players such as Hendrickson, Rankins and Onyemata developed under Nielsen’s tutelage, and those player-development skills will be important as the Saints move forward with a revamped line.
“Coach Nielsen,” Kpassagnon said, “just coming out of college I remember him working me out and how he actually coached and I love the passion and you know he’s going to get the most out of you.”

7/16/2021
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


   No player in franchise history is loved more by the New Orleans fan base then Archie Manning. Manning was drafted second overall in the 1971 NFL draft by the Saints and played ten seasons for the team. In those ten years the Saints had nine losing seasons, managing only a .500 record of 8-8 in 1979.  
   Manning was asked to lead some pretty bad teams during his career, as he was sacked 337 times in New Orleans. In 1972, he led the league in pass attempts and completions and led the NFC in passing yards, though the team's record was only 2–11–1. Archie sat out the entire 1976 season after corrective surgery on his right shoulder, spending the second half of that season in the team's radio booth. In 1978, he was named the NFC Player of the Year by UPI after leading the Saints to a 7–9 record. That same year, he was also named All-NFC by both the UPI and The Sporting News. 
   Manning was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1978 and 1979. He went on to conclude his career with the Houston Oilers (1982–1983), and the Minnesota Vikings (1983–1984). He ended his 13-year career having completed 2,011 of 3,642 passes for 23,911 yards and 125 touchdowns, with 173 Ints. He also rushed for 2,197 yards and 18 touchdowns. His 2,011 completions ranked 17th in NFL history upon his retirement. His record as a starter was 35–101–3 (26.3%), the worst in NFL history among QBs with at least 100 starts. He retired having never played on a team with a winning record or made the playoffs. He is one of the few players to have played 10 or more years in the NFL without taking part in an official playoff game.
   Even though the Saints have never officially retired Manning's #8, no other player in team history has worn it since he was traded away to Houston. 
    Everyone knows that two of Archie's sons, Peyton and Eli have gone on to have Hall of Fame NFL careers.... 

Da Boot Sports!
7/16/2021
Article courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Lee East


   The New Orleans Saints are beginning their most significant transition in 15 years.
Drew Brees has retired and a dozen other key players from last year’s team are gone for a variety of reasons.
As the start of the 2021 training camp looms in late July, the four-time defending NFC South champion Saints are still one of the more talented teams in the NFL. Sean Payton is still one of the longest-tenured and most-successful coaches in the league.
But things are changing as New Orleans ventures into the post-Brees era.
Crescent City Sports takes a comprehensive look at this transition in this series as a build-up to the start of training camp.
One thing about the New Orleans Saints offense will not change in 2021.
Whether Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill succeeds Drew Brees, the Saints will need a consistently effective running game in order to succeed as passers.
The same was true for Brees in each of his 15 seasons even as he was becoming the most prolific passer in NFL history.
The same is true throughout the NFL.
Last season the Saints led the NFL with 30 rushing touchdowns and had the sixth-highest rushing yards-per-game average (141.6).
They have one of the most dynamic dual-threat running backs in the NFL in Alvin Kamara, a productive and versatile backup runner in Latavius Murray and even Hill’s rushing ability whether he’s playing quarterback or being used in a variety of skill spots as was the case during Brees’ last four seasons.
That’s a lot for head coach Sean Payton and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael to work with, but the success of any running game hinges on more than just the ball carriers.
“We know that games are won up front,” Winston said.
The Saints have a very good offensive line comprised of left tackle Terron Armstead, left guard Andrus Peat, center Erik McCoy, right guard Cesar Ruiz and right tackle Ryan Ramczyk.
“Ever since I’ve been here, our O-line’s been one of the best in the NFL,” Hill said. “Everything starts up there. If you can’t protect the QB, if you can’t get the ball off, or if you can’t run the ball then you can’t do anything.”
Ramczyk is the anchor of the line as one of the best right tackles in the NFL and Armstead has been one of the better left tackles when he has been healthy. Peat, like Armstead, has been plagued by injuries, leaving the left side of the line periodically destabilized.
McCoy had a solid rookie season two years ago and the Saints picked Ruiz in the first round last year with the expectation that the two youngsters would start side by side.
It was thought that Ruiz might be able to start at center, the position at which he thrived at the University of Michigan, enabling the more experienced McCoy to slide over to guard.
But the absence of a normal off-season program because of COVID-19, a training-camp injury to Ruiz and an absence of preseason games stunted Ruiz’s early development. McCoy stayed at center, veteran Nick Easton started at guard and Ruiz slowly carved out a niche behind Easton.
“I was just really trying to learn a whole bunch of different things at once,” Ruiz said. “I was trying to learn so much information that I never really slowed things down, everything was going fast.”
Easton was released during the off-season and Ruiz and has continued to learn to play guard, where he is expected to start this season.
Carmichael said “the comfort level” of McCoy at center and Ruiz at right guard “suits us best right now.”
“My whole life, I trained at center,” Ruiz said. “Last year was my first season really playing a full season at guard. Now, I’m actually training at guard – a guard stance, guard sets, different rushes.
“Now, I understand the plays, I understand what my assignments are. When we’re in meetings, a lot of things are just slowing down and I’m able to answer stuff faster, because I had that season under my belt and was able to understand what I had to fix.”
Depth on the line has not been a strength in recent seasons. When Armstead has been sidelined, the first option generally has been to move Peat to tackle because the lack of depth would be less exposed by a backup guard than a backup tackle, though James Hurst held his own in limited action last season.
Former LSU lineman Will Clapp was re-signed during the off-season to continue providing interior depth, and sixth-round draft choice Landon Young of Kentucky will get a look at multiple positions.
But depth remains less than ideal.
Payton used the departure of tight ends coach Dan Campbell to become head coach of the Detroit Lions as an opportunity to re-work the staff responsibilities that affect the running game.
Offensive line coach Dan Roushar moved into Campbell’s role as tight ends coach and became run game coordinator. Brendan Nugent was elevated from Roshar’s assistant, and former Saints tackle Zach Strief left the broadcast booth to become Nugent’s assistant.
Joel Thomas remains the running backs coach and still has plenty to work with in Kamara and Murray, in addition to fullback Alex Armah, signed as an unrestricted free agent from Carolina.
Kamara set Saints single-season records last season with 16 rushing touchdowns and 21 total touchdowns. He tied an NFL single-game record with six rushing touchdowns against Minnesota on Christmas Day in Game 15.
Last season Kamara rushed for a career-high 932 yards and caught 83 passes after catching 81 in each of his first three seasons.
Kamara and all players’ stamina will be tested like never before this season as the NFL embarks on a 17-game schedule.
“Everything that I’m doing is setting up for that long haul,” Kamara said. “Once we get into Week 13, 14, I’m still good, I’m hitting that second wind and I’m feeling good.”

Da Boot Sports!
7/16/2021
Article courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Lee East


   The New Orleans Saints are beginning their most significant transition in 15 years.
Drew Brees has retired and a dozen other key players from last year’s team are gone for a variety of reasons.
As the start of the 2021 training camp looms in late July, the four-time defending NFC South champion Saints are still one of the more talented teams in the NFL. Sean Payton is still one of the longest-tenured and most-successful coaches in the league.
But things are changing as New Orleans ventures into the post-Brees era.
Crescent City Sports takes a comprehensive look at this transition in this series as a build-up to the start of training camp.
The guys passing the football will attract the most attention during the New Orleans Saints training camp as Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill compete to succeed Drew Brees as the starting quarterback.
But the development of the guys catching passes from Winston and Hill will also be a major aspect of training camp.
The passing game centers on Michael Thomas, a 2019 All-Pro wide receiver who was hampered all of last season by an ankle injury that limited his playing time and the Saints passing game.
The Saints are hopeful that Thomas, who missed nine games last season and caught 40 passes, fewer than half of his previous low total as a rookie in 2016 (92) and didn’t score a touchdown, and the passing game will be more consistently efficient this season, even without Brees,
“He’s here and been participating,” head coach Sean Payton said of Thomas during the Saints mini-camp two weeks ago. “He looks good. You still monitor it, pay attention to it and scan it and all those things. He’s receiving treatment and doing the things necessary. So, so far, so good.”
A healthy Thomas – who Hill called “one of the most unique players I’ve ever been around” – would be very significant, but the Saints need a lot more from the rest of their receiving corps to get the passing game to where they want it to be.
The Saints’ 3,758 passing yards last season were their fewest since Payton became head coach in 2006 and the 28 touchdown passes were the fewest since 23 in 2017.
No. 2 receiver Emmanuel Sanders (61 catches, 726 yards and five touchdowns) was released in an off-season salary-cap move as were veteran tight ends Jared Cook and Josh Hill.
The prime candidate to step forward as a clear-cut No. 2 receiver alongside Thomas is Tre’Quan Smith, who has shown glimpses of becoming a dependable receiver while battling through a series of injuries and missing eight games in his first three seasons.
Smith’s receiving stats don’t tell the whole story of his value because he is a very good blocker and has shown an ability to handle each wide-receiver position.
“He’s got a lot of versatility. He does a lot of things well,” Payton said of Smith. “He’s one of those players that I think details every aspect of playing that position. He’s not afraid to do some of the noisy work, but yet he’s someone that can stretch the field and he’s in good shape.
“I see a veteran player with him in the way he prepares, he carries himself. He is one of the leaders now in that room.”
Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael said the Saints were impressed by Smith’s “body of work” last season, which included a career-high 34 catches and four touchdowns, and they envision “a bigger role” for his this season.
Smith said he spent the off-season “focused on my core” in hopes of staying healthier. “I wasn’t as strong as I thought,” he said.
He added that he “appreciated” the confidence the Saints showed in him by not signing a major free agent at wide receiver and not using a draft choice on one until the seventh round when they grabbed Kawaan Baker of South Alabama, though salary-cap limitations contributed to the absence of a major free-agent signing.
Though Smith has yet to have a breakout season, he does have a stronger resume than any other receiver aside from Thomas.
Marquez Callaway and Juwan Johnson (unndrafted free agents last season), Lil’Jordan Humphrey (eight games played in two seasons) and return specialist Deonte Harris are all young receivers that will have an opportunity to assume bigger roles this season.
“They’re doing very well. I’m encouraged,” Payton said. “I like the way that room is coming together. There are a few guys that received more snaps a year ago because of some of our depth issues and I think that’s helped them.”
The Saints did sign former St. Paul’s High School, Oklahoma State and Tulane wide receiver Jalen McCleskey, who was briefly with Atlanta last season as an undrafted free agent.
Winston had the fewest reps with the starting receivers among the three quarterbacks last season. He tried to make up for lost time by organizing workouts with several teammates – including Smith, Johnson, Callaway, second-year tight end Adam Trautman and incoming free agent tight end Nick Vannett – prior to mini-camp.
“They’re eager to work and I’m eager to get to learn them,” Winston said. “I’m reading guys’ body language, how they come in and out of breaks. It’s important for anticipation and timing. With anyone, you’re going to learn something new about them every single day.
“You are always trying to connect with your guys when they have time, to build timing, camaraderie and just get together. I think that’s the best part of being a quarterback, coordinating guys together and going out there executing and having fun and seeing it come to fruition when the bullets really come.”
Trautman said he has always “put my heart and soul into every snap” and is hoping for a bigger role this season by continuing to earn the coaches’ trust.
Vannett, who played three seasons in Seattle and one each in Pittsburgh and Denver, called Payton’s offense “very complex in a great way” because of the way it creates mismatches for receivers.
This is the first time Vannett, who has never caught more than 29 passes in a season, has played for an offensive-minded head coach, which he hopes will give him a “legit shot to make plays in the system.”
The Saints are counting on multiple players to emerge as more productive receivers, and the presence of a healthy Thomas for an entire season would make that more likely.
“If you get stuck or there’s indecision on what’s going on,” Taysom Hill said, “you know that if you get Mike T a catchable ball, you know he’s going to catch it, he’s going to do everything he can to compete for it.”
Winston and Hill both provide a better opportunity for deep completions than was the norm in the latter stages of Brees’ career, but they won’t be reluctant to continue to utilize the short game, especially with running back Alvin Kamara, who caught a team-high 83 passes last season after catching 81 in each of his first three seasons.

Da Boot Sports!
7/16/2021
Article courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Lee East


   The New Orleans Saints are beginning their most significant transition in 15 years.
Drew Brees has retired and a dozen other key players from last year’s team are gone for a variety of reasons.
As the start of the 2021 training camp looms in late July, the four-time defending NFC South champion Saints are still one of the more talented teams in the NFL. Sean Payton is still one of the longest-tenured and most-successful coaches in the league.
But things are changing as New Orleans ventures into the post-Brees era.
Crescent City Sports takes a comprehensive look at this transition in this series as a build-up to the start of training camp.
Who will succeed Drew Brees?
Will it be Jameis Winston?
Or Taysom Hill?
Or both?
That storyline will dominate the New Orleans Saints’ preparation for the 2021 season. It will provide the backdrop against which training camp and preseason games will unfold until coach Sean Payton names his starting quarterback for the Sept. 12 season opener against Green Bay in the Superdome.
Winston has the edge in terms of NFL playing experience and productivity, but he had that when Brees was sidelined by injury for four games last season and Payton chose to start Hill.
Payton chose well as the Saints went 3-1 in those games.
But this decision is different. This is not choosing a fill-in for a small part of a season, it’s choosing the leader of the team for an entire season – and perhaps longer.
“You pay attention to just what you see without any predisposed thoughts,” Payton said of the impending preseason competition.
Though the replacement of the most prolific passer in NFL history will be unavoidably one of the biggest attention-getting items in the league this summer, this really has nothing to do with Brees.
The Saints aren’t replacing the 2006 Brees or the 2008 Brees or the 2009 Super Bowl MVP Brees or the 2011 Brees or the 2012 Brees or the 2013 Brees or even the 2017 Brees.
They are choosing the successor to the 2019-2020 Brees, who missed nine games in his last two seasons due to injury. They won eight of those games, five with Teddy Bridgewater starting in 2019 and three of four with Hill starting in 2020.
The Saints were significantly less dependent on Brees in the last two seasons than they were earlier in his career, even though he continued to play at a mostly high level when healthy.
Winston isn’t Brees, nor is Hill. Neither needs to be Brees of any vintage.
Whoever starts needs to be the best version of themselves that they can be to lead and complement a cast of players on a team capable of extending its streak of four consecutive NFC South titles even without Brees.
“I think you’re going to look at everything,” offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael said of the competition, “not only how they’re performing on the field, how they’re absorbing the offense, the communication at the huddle and line of scrimmage, how are they performing in critical situations whether it’s two-minute drill, third down, red zone.”
Payton’s offense, which Brees orchestrated since 2006, will be tailored to fit Brees’ successor.
“We’ve always tried to look closely at the strengths of our players, what they do well and we’ll build a little bit around that player accordingly,” Payton said. “And that’s something that we did when Drew first arrived here, and we would do with either these two players.”
Winston, the No. 1 overall draft choice in 2015, started for five seasons in Tampa Bay before signing with the Saints as a free agent before last season.
“One year not playing has just made me even hungrier to get back at the helm and lead a team,” Winston said.
In his last season as a starter in 2019 his productivity was remarkable – 5,109 yards and 33 touchdown passes – but marred by 30 interceptions. That was typical of Winston’s Buccaneers career as he threw 121 touchdown passes and 88 interceptions.
The Saints and Winston are hopeful that his improved eye sight resulting from LASIK surgery he had last offseason can make him a more accurate passer, but improved decision-making likely would be a more important factor in reducing the interceptions.
Winston said one of the most important things he has learned as an NFL quarterback is “being able to say no.”
“Everybody can get back there and throw the ball,” Winston said, “but being able to make the decisions that ‘we cannot do this’ goes into if you are going to be a great quarterback or average.”
Winston, like Hill, credited Brees for showing him “how to be a complete pro, how to come to work every day, what the purpose and what the initiative is (each day).”
“We don’t want to be making decisions just for a (potential) great result,” Winston said. “You want to be making the right decision period. That is what (Brees) taught me.”
Either Winston or Hill will be a greater threat on deep passes than was Brees, who played at 41 years of age last season.
Wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith said Winston has told him, “When I’ve got the ball whatever you do, don’t stop running. He’s definitely looking to stretch the offense.”
Hill’s running ability triggered the addition of run-pass options to the Saints offense for his periodic moments replacing Brees during the last four seasons.
Payton chose to use Hill, who also has myriad offensive and special-teams roles, as a starting quarterback last season similar to the way he used him as a change-of-pace while backing up Brees.
“I look at the last four games that I was playing last season and we did some things differently,” Hill said. “Some things were taken out of the offense, some things were added, but the core is all the same.
“The emphasis this year is (I’ve) never really been able to tailor all my workouts and everything to just being a quarterback where I’ve structured things differently just knowing and feeling like I won’t have to take on as much as I did last year.”
Ideally the Saints will name a starter in August, allowing a few weeks for the team to focus on adjusting to one or the other. But the priority is not making a quick decision, it’s making the best decision.
“I think the decision will be made when it needs to be made,” tackle Ryan Ramczyk said, “and we’ll roll with whatever it is.”

Da Boot Sports!
​7/7/2021
Article courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Lee East


   NEW ORLEANS, LA: The New Orleans Saints are beginning their most significant transition in 15 years. 
Drew Brees has retired and a dozen other key players from last year’s team are gone for a variety of reasons.  
As the start of the 2021 training camp looms in late July, the four-time defending NFC South champion Saints are still one of the more talented teams in the NFL. Sean Payton is still one of the longest-tenured and most-successful coaches in the league. 
But things are changing as New Orleans ventures into the post-Brees era. 

Crescent City Sports takes a comprehensive look at this transition in this series as a build-up to the start of training camp.

​   The 2021 season marks the dawning of a new era for the New Orleans Saints.
The Drew Brees Era is over. The most productive passer in NFL history and the most important player in Saints history retired in March.
For 15 seasons, Brees was the face of the franchise and largely the city. His partnership with head coach Sean Payton was the guiding force in by far the most productive period in the more than half a century of Saints football.
With Brees running Payton’s offense, the Saints won seven NFC South championships (including the last four), went to the playoffs nine times (winning nine games and losing eight), played in three NFC Championship Games and claimed New Orleans’ only Super Bowl title in its only appearance (after the 2009 season).
Things will be different beginning with this season.
Perhaps they will be as good or nearly as good. Payton is still here and he still has a lot of talent on his roster, though the Saints did lose eight starters (including Brees) and a handful of other contributors from last year’s team, which won a Wild Card Playoff before losing to eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay in a Divisional Playoff.
The next phase of the Sean Payton Era begins with more uncertainty than the Saints have faced in quite some time.
It’s unlikely that the franchise is entering what eventually will be known as the Jameis Winston Era.
It’s less likely that it will become known as the Taysom Hill Era.
It’s most likely that the period beginning in 2021 will be less defined by a quarterback – or any other individual player – than the last 15 years were.
Certainly, Winston and Hill will attract the most attention as they compete to be Brees’ successor, and whichever player is the starter on Sept. 12 against Green Bay and thus the first quarterback other than Brees to start a Saints season opener since Aaron Brooks in 2005 will be one of the most scrutinized players in the NFL during this season.
But the Saints evolution past the end of the Brees Era will be not just a team-wide effort, it will be an organization-wide effort.
Payton, Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis and the rest of the personnel and front-office staff have navigated a treacherous challenge to building the first post-Brees roster amid major salary-cap challenges exacerbated by COVID-induced reductions in how much money teams could spend on player salaries for the 2021 season.
The result is that 14 players who participated in the playoff loss to the Buccaneers are no longer on the roster.
In addition to Brees’ retirement, one player (defensive tackle Malcolm Brown) was traded, six other departed via agency and seven others were released in order to get under the salary cap. On top of that, the Saints were minor players in the player-acquisition market – signing just three veteran free agents of note – fullback Alex Armah, defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon and tight end Nick Vannett.
But they drafted six new players – each at a position that was impacted by departure – and they have a bevy of young stars and hopefuls that will have opportunities to blossom into expanded roles to supplement a strong core.
In fact, therein lies the biggest factor in how well the Saints weather this first post-Brees voyage and whether they continue their playoff streak and perhaps even their division title streak: How many players in their early to mid-20s prove to be ascending players whose rising tide lifts the whole New Orleans boat?
Payton and his coaching staff – like their counterparts around the NFL – have had a more conventional though not totally conventional off-season to work with their players after being denied that opportunity last season.
This Saints offseason has featured an unusually large number of key players departing and an unusually small number of key players arriving.
This Saints team will look much different than recent ones.
The challenge is for it to produce familiar results.
​