The New Orleans Saints looked like an absolute wagon during a pair of blowout victories over the Panthers and Cowboys in the first two weeks of 2024. Sadly, injuries and good old-fashioned regression quickly turned the dream season into a nightmare, as the Saints lost seven consecutive games and eventually limped to their worst finish since 2005.

Head coach/President of the "I hate Kendre Miller fan club" Dennis Allen was fired in November, leading the Saints to finally fully embrace life in the post-Sean Payton and Drew Brees era. It remains to be seen who will be taking the reins moving forward at the time of this writing, although the insiders of the world have reported longtime Cowboys and Eagles OC Kellen Moore looks like the frontrunner.

Related: The Saints have pushed their ticket to cap hell further and further back over the years and now find themselves objectively in the league's worst financial situation.

Big-time moves will inevitably be completed in the upcoming months–it's tough to imagine this roster being in a position to actively compete for meaningful hardware anytime soon.

Today we'll recap some of the good and bad of 2024 before getting into potential offseason injuries to monitor as well as team needs ahead of the 2025 offseason.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 2024 RECAP

  • Record: 5-12 (9.5 preseason win total)
  • Points per game: 19.9 (24th)
  • EPA per dropback: -0.071 (30th)
  • EPA per rush: -0.036 (10th)
  • Points per game allowed: 23.4 (19th)
  • Leading passer: Derek Carr (2,145 pass yards, 15 TD, 5 INT)
  • Leading rusher: Alvin Kamara (228 carries, 950 yards, 6 TD)
  • Leading receiver: Juwan Johnson (50 receptions, 548 yards, 3 TD)

Biggest surprise: WR Rashid Shaheed

Shaheed only played six games in 2024, but my oh my was the third-year WR/returner electric.

No. 1 in the NFL in receiving TDs on passes thrown 30-plus yards downfield over the past two seasons (7), Shaheed deserves to be in any conversation surrounding the league's most lethal field-stretching talents as he continues to prove he's far more than just a gadget/returner.

Here's to hoping 2024's season-ending meniscus injury doesn't linger; the initial four-to-six-month recovery timeline should put him on track to return in plenty of time to get ready for the 2025 season.

Biggest disappointment: QB Spencer Rattler

There wasn't an obvious fantasy-relevant option here, so I went with the QB who was a popular sleeper due to the idea that he only fell to the fifth round of the 2024 draft because of off-the-field concerns.

And look: The book is hardly closed on Rattler (25 next September), who was forced to deal with plenty of injuries to his offensive line and WR rooms alike.

That said … yikes.

 

Hopefully, Rattler proves his down rookie campaign was a fugazi; just realize nothing about his 2024 performance indicates the Saints should look to give him too real of a chance as the team's long-term answer under center.

Key Injuries

There were three key season-ending injuries that required surgery here:

  • WR Rashid Shaheed (meniscus): Doctors don't believe the issue is a concern for the long term. Shaheed is tentatively expected to be good to go for training camp.
     
  • TE Taysom Hill (knee): Underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in late December. There's a "high risk of starting 2025 on PUP" per Dr. Jeff Mueller. The Swiss Army Knife will be 35 in August; it's probably not wise to expect much from him in the early parts of next season.
     
  • TE Foster Moreau: Underwent knee surgery in early January. It's unclear exactly what type of surgery it was. Either way, Moreau profiles as a potential cap casualty considering the Saints can save $4.2 million against the cap with just $700,000 in dead money with a post-June 1 release.

What Are The Biggest Needs of the Saints Ahead Of 2025?

Team Need No. 1: Quarterback

This is more so due to the potential reality that the Saints are done with Mr. Derek Carr than a massive indictment on the soon-to-be 34-year-old veteran. Kudos to Carr for actually working as the QB8 in adjusted EPA when accounting for things like drops and offensive line performance last season.

Still, Carr is on the record stating he will not take a pay cut to remain with the Saints, which might be a deal-breaker considering New Orleans would be forced to swallow $21.5 million in dead money with a post-June 1 cut. A trade would easily give the Saints the most cap relief; QB-needy teams that miss out on the top two or three QBs in the draft could look Carr's way–I think a reunion with the Raiders would hilariously make some sense!

Ultimately, it's unlikely the Saints are looking to hitch their future to Carr; ripping the bandaid off and attempting to find a real long-term solution at the position sooner rather than later is probably best for all parties involved.

Team Need No. 2: EDGE

The team has some major depth entering free agency in the form of Chase Young and Payton Turner, while the future of Cameron Jordan looks a bit murky. Similar to Carr (and maybe even Chris Olave), parting ways with Jordan wouldn't be necessarily due to on-field performance: It's just unclear if the legendary Saint is overly interested in embracing a new coaching staff and going through a likely multi-year rebuild.

36 in July, Jordan is on the record saying he's not ready to retire, but he added, “I think I only bleed black and gold, but if you force me to go bleed somewhere else, a soldier fights wherever, whenever, however.”

Even if Jordan does return, more depth is needed to help replace the team's aforementioned free agents, and extra youth would be nice considering the team has used just one draft pick on an edge defender in the last three drafts combined.

Team Need No. 3: Cornerback

This was destined to be a need the second the Saints traded Marshon Lattimore to the Commanders. Additionally, starter Paulson Adebo is hitting free agency, leaving the Saints with a mere $8.2 million in 2025 dollars devoted to their corners–the second-lowest mark in the NFL.

Ultimately, the Saints didn't have a single corner graded inside PFF's top 50 highest-graded players at the position last season. A defense can never have too many good defensive backs in the year 2025, and right now it's unclear if the Saints really even have one they can overly trust.