If you thought the Saints were bad this season, wait for 2025.
General manager Mickey Loomis spoke with reporters for the first time since the team ended the 2024 season 5-12, the franchise's worst record since 2005, when it was displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Loomis' comments suggest New Orleans' downward trend should continue for the foreseeable future.
"Because the results aren't what we want doesn't mean we're doing something wrong," Loomis said, seemingly laying the groundwork for a career in standup comedy should he ever leave the Saints.
“There may be some circumstantial things here," Loomis continued, "but we have to look at all of it and be honest with ourselves."
If he were honest with himself, Loomis would know that his team-building approach in recent years hasn't worked.
Because of his cap mismanagement and stubborn loyalty to former head coach Dennis Allen, the Saints have arguably the league's bleakest future.
In recent years, New Orleans has been forced to part ways with several talented defenders, including defensive end Trey Hendrickson, defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson and linebacker Zack Baun, due to cap constraints or coaching malpractice.
Hendrickson signed a four-year, $60M contract with the Bengals during the 2021 offseason. This season, he led the league in sacks (17.5). The Saints traded Gardner-Johnson to the Eagles before the start of the 2022 season for a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-rounder. Gardner-Johnson has recorded 13 interceptions in the three seasons since.
Last offseason, the Saints allowed Baun to leave in free agency. He signed a one-year, $3.5M contract with the Eagles and was named First-Team All-Pro for the first time in his five-year career while recording 151 tackles, 63 more than he had in four seasons in New Orleans.
Loomis told reporters the team attempted to re-sign Baun, but Allen couldn't promise more playing time, leading him to leave for Philadelphia.
This season, the Saints ranked 30th in total defense; the Eagles were first.
Per Over The Cap, New Orleans is an estimated $52.3M above the projected salary cap, which Loomis dismissed on Monday as a product of the team having "the most players under contract of any team," per ESPN Saints reporter Katherine Terrell.
Terrell added important context to Loomis' claim, noting that while the Saints have 61 players under contract, that's tied with the 49ers, who "have about $100M less in current cap liabilities."
The Saints have plummeted to the NFC South's cellar because of Loomis' decisions, and Monday's news conference is a concerning sign that he hasn't learned from past mistakes.
WWL Radio Saints sideline reporter Jeff Nowak shared the 23-year Saints general manager's response when asked why fans should be confident in the current leadership making the Saints a contender again.
"We've gotten it right before," Loomis said, still holding on to hiring Sean Payton, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl win during the 2009 season, 19 years ago as his crowning achievement.
The Saints haven't been good for a while. They've missed the playoffs in the past four seasons. Since Payton left the franchise following the 2021 season, New Orleans is 21-30, tied with the Browns for the league's ninth-worst record. (h/t Stathead)
For all of the Saints' deficiencies, Loomis showed on Monday why New Orleans needs a front office overhaul most.
