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The New Orleans Saints are back at it – practicing for the 2017-18 season, which begins in a little more than a month.
Local fans are excited for the return of football, but are cautiously optimistic about how far they think the Black and Gold can go.
We spoke to several Saints fans this week and the majority of fans said they think the team is better than they were last year, but likely not good enough to seriously chase the Super Bowl.
Most local fans said that the combination of Drew Brees’ age and concerns about the defense, will plague the team enough to keep them from the top.
“We’re excited because football is back. That’s always a time to be excited,” Houma native Peter Brooks said. “But I’m not sure that this is our year. I like some of the moves that we made in the offseason. But I’m not sure if it’s going to be enough for us. I think our starting point was so far behind the leaders of the pack that we still are going to trail the best teams in the league.”
Age of key players was a common area of concern for Saints fans.
Brees is 38 to start the season – a time when most players over history have experienced a significant drop-off in on-field productivity. By the time the Super Bowl is played, he will be 39. The 2017-18 season will be Brees’ 17th in the league. Very few players ever play well that late into their careers.
In addition to Brees being long in the tooth, the Saints also signed former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who is 32.
Thibodaux native Lawrence Billeaud said he thinks the age of the Saints’ two stars will be a burden too big for the team to bare.
He pointed to injuries at the offensive line – to tackle Terron Armstead and center Max Unger – as signs of added pressure to both Brees and Peterson.
“I think our margin for error is small and we already have guys out,” Billeaud said. “I think it’s going to be too much for us. The division is too good and I don’t know if our top guys are capable of playing at that high level anymore.”
Houma native Kenneth Moon agreed.
He said he thinks this will be Brees’ last season in New Orleans.
The Saints do have the ability to make this the final season of the quarterback’s contract.
He’s remained flawless, despite getting older.
Last year, he completed 471-of-673 passes for 5,208 yards and 37 touchdowns.
“I can’t see them signing a 40-year-old man to a big deal,” Moon said. “I think this is the last dance for Drew.”
But even with a somewhat pessimistic general outlook for Brees and Peterson, fans said they loved the team’s young offensive pieces, including Michael Thomas and halfback Alvin Kamara, who the team picked in the middle rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft.
“Kamara is a sleeper,” said Bourg native Rhonda LeBouef. “You watch – he is going to be really good.”
Defensively, fans believe that the Saints are better than they were a year ago, but many question whether that will be good enough to field a competent group.
The Saints were a train wreck defensively last year – a unit which finished either last or near the bottom in every major statistic under coordinator Dennis Allen.
But the Saints dedicated a lot of their offseason to reshoring their defensive depth chart, drafting Marshon Lattimore in the first-round of draft and signing journeymen like defensive lineman Alex Okafor linebackers Manti Te’o and A.J. Klein to add depth.
But the Saints’ defense also has experienced some significant departures.
Defensive tackle Nick Fairley is out for the season with a heart ailment, which may end his career. Fairley had a breakout season last year, recording 43 tackles and 6.5 sacks in the middle of the Saints’ defense.
“I think we will be better on defense,” Moon said. “I think they did some nice things. I think Coach Payton knows that that’s the only way they’ll ever get back to the top – is with a solid defense.”
But Houma native Fred Banks disagreed.
He said the Saints cut average players and replaced them with other average players. He said he liked the Lattimore draft pick, but isn’t a fan of anything else the team did defensively this offseason.
Klein and Te’o have been disappointments in their short careers, each playing mostly reserve roles. Okafor has had moments of success, but is mostly a passing-down pass rusher.
“I don’t think that will be enough to get it done,” Banks said. “I hope I am wrong, but I think they replaced what we had with other guys no one else wanted.”
So when asked for an exact record, the numbers varied.
The highest mark offered was from LeBouef, who said the team would go 11-5.
The lowest was from Banks, who said 7-9.
Everyone else was sort of in between – a healthy mix between 8-8 and 10-6.
But no one said the magic words: Super Bowl.
“I don’t think we can it this year,” Moon said. “I look at it on paper and there are some squads right now that are looking really, really nice. As for us, we’re just sort of OK.”
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