2014 Season
The New Orleans Saints had an extremely disappointing season. Coming into the 2014 season they were expecting to win the division with double digit wins. Instead, the lost the division and only managed seven wins. They witnessed the face of the franchise, quarterback Drew Brees, noticeably regress and saw their defense come back to Earth under defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.
2015 Free Agents
Patrick Robinson, Cornerback: Robinson was a first round pick by the Saints in 2010 and is due for a second contract. In Week 2 of this season, however, Robinson was demoted to nickel cornerback. After his demotion he started to perform better and might have earned himself a second contract with the Saints.
Mark Ingram, Running Back: Mark Ingram is a valuable piece to this offense but whether or not the Saints bring him back could be affected by his injury history and the offense’s propensity to pass rather than run the ball. With what Ingram might get from another team, the Saints just don’t place that kind of value on the running back position.
Jonathan Goodwin, Center: Goodwin did not have a good season and this could be it for the aging center. I would be extremely surprised if he decided to come back for another season instead of retiring. His play has been declining for years now and it certainly doesn’t look like it will be getting any better.
Shayne Graham, Kicker: The kicker is a tricky position when it comes to free agency. There aren’t usually a lot of different options out there for teams and the Saints certainly don’t kick many field goals. Graham was 28th in the NFL this season in attempted field goals and went 86%. The Saints will likely let Graham go and could bring in a rookie, undrafted free agent. Since they don’t kick many field goals, a lot won’t be asked of him too quickly.
Parys Haralson, Outside Linebacker: I think the Saints will offer Haralson a very favorable contract. Out of all their linebackers Haralson had the best season. According to PFF (subscription) the Saints were eighth worst in the league in run defense and Haralson was their best linebacker against the run.
Robert Meachem, Wide Receiver: Wide receivers on the Saints have a tendency to perform really well while with the Saints and when they go elsewhere to get more money they seem to fall a bit short. I think Meachem would fall into this category if he went away from this system and Drew Brees.
Jamarca Sanford, Safety: Sanford played well in limited snaps on defense this season but didn’t play so well on special teams. Considering he’s key contributions on the team come in special teams, there’s a good chance the Saints let him test free agency and if he comes back it will be at a very team friendly price.
Brandon Deaderick, Defensive End: Deaderick had a pretty bad season for the Saints this season. With as bad as this defense was in 2014, there’s a good chance the Saints try to bring in a lot of new pieces, starting with letting players like Deaderick walk.
Bryce Harris, Offensive Line: Harris is in the same boat as Deaderick only at a different position. Harris had a bad year and the Saints will be looking to go in a different direction in 2015.
Travaris Cadet, Running Back: If the Saints bring Ingram back, that would leave Cadet as the fourth man on the depth chart. Bringing Cadet back is going to depend on whether or not they bring Ingram back and how much depth they want at the running back position. They might bring him back just to give the other running backs some competition. Cadet is a young back who is hungry and talented enough to give the other backs a good push in training camp.
Tyrunn Walker, Defensive End: Walker had a very good season for the Saints. He was solid against the run and was able to generate a pass rush when given the opportunity. On 231 pass plays he was in for he was able to get three sacks, one quarterback hit, and 14 quarterback hurries. Walker came into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and I’d imagine he’s a young piece of this defense the Saints would like to bring back.
2015 Cap Room: -$23,158,215
Five-Biggest Need Areas
Inside Linebacker: As of right now, Curtis Lofton isn’t cutting it in the middle of this defense. Out of all the players on defense for the Saints, Lofton had the lowest overall PFF grade. The Saints desperately need someone to put in the middle of the defense to be a leader. Their other inside linebacker, David Hawthorne, didn’t exactly have a stellar year either.
Cornerback: The Saints had the second worst PFF pass coverage grade in the entire league in 2014. They need a cornerback they can trust on an island against the other teams’ best receiver. If they were able to find good cornerbacks it would allow their defense to be as aggressive as Rob Ryan wants it to be.
Wide Receiver: The Saints have always relied on Drew Brees’ amazing talent rather than relying on their wide receivers to be dominant. But with Brees declining, they need to prepare for what lies ahead. With a lesser Drew Brees or eventually with a new quarterback the Saints won’t be able to get away with lesser wide receivers.
Offensive Line: The Saints didn’t have a terrible offensive line but they certainly need a few new pieces on there. In particular, they need interior linemen. Even for mobile quarterbacks, the hardest pressure to escape is pressure up the middle. Sub-par interior linemen just won’t cut it in the NFL anymore.
Quarterback: Drew Brees won’t be around forever. His skills have already started to diminish (not substantially) and the Saints need to look for an eventual replacement. While it’s not at the top of this offseason’s priorities, it’s certainly something that needs to be addressed in the near future.
Potential Offseason Breakout Star
Rookie wide receiver Brandin Cooks missed the later part of the season with an injury but will be looking to come back in 2015 better than before. Cooks has exceptional hands and speed is a perfect fit for this offense. If he hadn’t gotten injured I think he would’ve had a very good second half of the season once he improved his chemistry with Brees. After a whole offseason to prepare and rehabilitate, I think Cooks is going to come out in 2015 feeling like he has something to prove.
2015 NFL Draft Selections
1st Round (13)
2nd Round (12)
3rd Round (11)
4th Round (13)
5th Round (12)
6th Round (11)
7th Round (13)
The Saints have certainly painted themselves into a corner with the way they’ve managed their salary cap in recent years. They’re going to need to restructure a lot of deals before they can even think about even re-signing their own players. With the age of this roster, all their holes, and their inflexibility with the salary cap they could be in for a long period of irrelevancy.