Big Changes That Could Help The New Orleans Saints Improve In 2025

There's a lot of things the Saints can change in the offseason, but here are some of the ones we'd like to see.

Nov 10, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi reacts to a fourth down stop of the Atlanta Falcons to in his first game as interim head coach during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

There's more than a few ways the Saints can fix their struggles, but not every one of them is logical. It's going to be fascinating to see how New Orleans tackles this offseason, and honestly the next two to three months are really important ones to plug into.

The team will have a new head coach for 2025, will have to get salary cap compliant, needs to make decisions on some of their veterans and coaching staff and then find out what type of capital they'll have to sign new players. That's the abridged version of what needs to be done.

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I got the Saints News Network team together to ask them a very important question. What is the one area or thing you want to see the Saints change in 2025? Here's what we came up with.

One Area We Want to See the Saints Change In 2025

Sep 15, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) celebrates with New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee (90) during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Kyle T. Mosley - Vision of the Franchise

The vision of the franchise needs to change, and I believe this should begin within the executive ranks. Mickey Loomis has been one of the best front office executives over the past 20+ years, successfully building elite teams and securing a Super Bowl victory.

Completely removing him from the organization may not be the best option. Instead, it might be more beneficial to consider a change within the hierarchy that allows New Orleans to better utilize his expertise.

Today's NFL is no longer convervative in nature. Making bold moves while understanding younger players' backgrounds and talents are essential for creating winning teams. It might be time to pass the responsibility to a new general manager.

Bob Rose - The Defense

It's easy to point fingers at the lack of offensive production, and some of that would be valid. The Saints certainly need depth beyond Olave and Shaheed at wideout, a consistent playmaker at tight end, a complementary backfield threat to Kamara, and an upgrade at offensive guard. However, there are pieces on this offense that you can win with if they actually stay healthy.

The spot that needs a MASSIVE upgrade on this team is on defense. I don't even know where to begin. A true difference maker at edge rusher. A big-bodied run stopper at defensive tackle. Quality youth at linebacker. An athletic and instinctive safety actually willing to tackle. All are major needs.

On offense, there are pieces here to build around. I can't look at the defense and say the same. Bryan Bresee, Carl Granderson, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Alontae Taylor are young talents. Aside from them and the hope that Demario Davis continues to defy time, there isn't much.

John Hendrix - The Direction

The Saints have had this attitude and belief that they can compete in a very bad division, and that dangerous school of thought hasn't produced any division titles. When you peel back the layers on the wins, it wasn't against top-tier opponents.

Yes, it's cool to flex on the salary cap naysayers when they say the team is in cap hell and kick the can down the road only for New Orleans to get under it and then spend some money. However, the strategy has to work and it hasn't.

The Saints thought they were close last year after going 9-8 and then pushed the chips in believing they could get where they needed to go to pick up that one win to get into the postseason. All that did was produce just 5 wins on the season and get the head coach fired after a 2-7 start.

The injuries are a part of the game, but when the interim head coach comes in and institutes a fix and the soft tissue injuries go down to just one? That's a huge miss. There was something fundamentally off with the Saints last season and they didn't seem to see it. Roster mismanagement was another. Why was a Willie Gay Jr. signed and then kept on the bench contradicting what was said before? The same could be said for many players.

The salary cap situation is the boat they're in, just like they are what the record says they are. New Orleans can't just dump everyone and hit the reset button, but could make strides. We saw in 2014 why you don't just get rid of all the leaders too. I think there's a place for Cam Jordan and Tyrann Mathieu on the 2025 squad, but they're also going to have to be open to some things financially to make it work if they truly want to stay.

I say all that to say this. Embrace a direction that will help you start to put pieces together for a competing squad in the next two or three years. Find the balance between tearing it down and trying to win the NFC South and see where things land. No one should expect New Orleans to be in the postseason conversation in 2025, let alone the division. And that's okay if the team is trying to work to be better with the cap and have young building blocks be the real future of the team.

Regardless of who comes in as the next head coach of the Saints, they need to be understanding and patient with it. Just like with Darren Rizzi, they're not inheriting a great situation. That's why it's so important to get this right. The right leader can change the culture and get the buy-in needed and help the ship turn the corner in the right direction at least.

Hopefully, New Orleans doesn't convince themselves that bad injuries and bad luck were the reason they finished 5-12 and all they need to do is be healthy and fix a few pieces. That could end up getting us right back to this point in 2026. Slapping some Flex Seal on the hole to stop the massive leak doesn't fix the leak, it just patches it. The Saints need to fix the hole or at least start closing up the leak with a more permanent fix. That's what I want to see change for them.

Be sure to keep up with the Saints this offseason with our Second And Saints podcast. Check out our YouTube channel and buckle up for an eventful few months as New Orleans will hire a new head coach and have many decisions on their hands.