New Orleans Saints Look Destined For Rebuild After Sean Payton Exit

With Sean Payton bidding farewell to the New Orleans Saints after announcing his decision to step away from coaching, the franchise has been left to reflect on its most successful period. The Saints cannot spend too much time looking back on their achievements during the Payton era, however, as they face a host of difficult decisions in what looks set to be an extremely challenging offseason.

The task of finding Payton’s replacement may be the easiest on the Saints’ to-do list. They are reportedly set to interview defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and their former defensive backs coach Aaron Glenn, who left last year to become defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions.

Per ProFootballTalk, Allen is considered the leading candidate to replace Payton, whose departure appears to be one for which the Saints were well prepared.

They will need to have a strong plan to keep the bulk of a roster that contended for the playoffs in Payton’s final year in charge together, with the Saints once again in a desperate salary cap situation.

New Orleans did a lot of maneuvering to get under the 2021 cap, but it is difficult to foresee a situation in which the Saints avoid a rebuild in 2022.

According to Spotrac, the Saints are forecast to be $71.5 million over an assumed cap of $208.2 million.

And, with six players aged 30 or over—Cameron Jordan, David Onyemata, Taysom Hill, Malcolm Jenkins, Demario Davis and Bradley Roby—accounting for over a third of their 2022 salary cap, New Orleans may have to come to terms with the prospect of parting with at least some of the players who consistently kept them competitive under Payton’s leadership.

The Saints also have several key players of their roster scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency, among them three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead, free safety Marcus Williams, cornerback P.J. Williams and wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith.

New Orleans retaining Armstead looks extremely unlikely, with his prospective exit set to be a significant blow to a team that could well draft a rookie quarterback with the 18th overall pick with both Jameis Winston and Trevor Siemian unrestricted free agents.

Their ability to find ways to work around the salary cap kept the Saints competitive for most of Payton’s tenure. Now the architect of their consistent success has departed, it is time for the bill for those maneuvers to come due.

The Saints are used to being in the mix for the postseason year in and year out, but it is impossible to escape the reality of their situation in the post-Payton era. New Orleans is set to lose several players on the open market and may have to part with other key pieces of the roster just to get under the cap.

With the possibility of having a new face of the franchise to build around under center, the Saints could use the additional draft capital they may be able to net by parting with those high-priced veterans.

Rebuild is not a word that has applied to New Orleans for a long time but, following Payton’s decision to at least temporarily ride off into the sunset, the Saints will likely have to reconcile themselves with reconstructing the roster.