The New Orleans Saints missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season since Drew Brees called it a career. Now searching for a new head coach while digging themselves out of salary cap hell, the team will move forward and try to break their postseason cold streak in 2025. While some organizations would consider embracing a rebuild, General Manager Mickey Loomis will likely push his chips back to the center of the table once again.
Currently holding the ninth pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and lacking the funds to pursue big-name free agents, the Saints will struggle to make the playoffs next year. However, they could turn the ship around if they have a near-perfect offseason. It won’t be easy, but following these steps could have them playing meaningful football at this time next year.
How the Saints Can Make the Playoffs In 2025
Step 1: Cast A Wide Net
The Saints will begin the offseason by looking for a new head coach. While nothing is official, reports across the league indicate that New Orleans wants to hire Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as their Plan B. Perhaps these two end up being the best choices, but it’s discouraging that New Orleans has seemingly already made up their mind on who to hire.
Mickey Loomis likes familiarity. It’s why he hired Dennis Allen after Sean Payton retired and why he was so reluctant to fire the head coach despite consistently underperforming. Glenn, of course, spent years in New Orleans before following Dan Campbell to the Lions when he became head coach. Glenn is a fine candidate who has done a remarkable job of managing a banged-up Lions defense, but he shouldn’t be the only real choice at this stage in the offseason.
Loomis and company must cast a wide net and interview as many coaches as possible. Perhaps Glenn emerges victorious at the end of the interview process, but New Orleans must keep an open mind and find the best candidate to guide this team into the future, even if it’s a coach who doesn’t have a pre-established connection with the front office.
Step 2: Keep Shooting
While Loomis will inevitably restructure contract and contract to create cap space, New Orleans won’t have the spending money to pursue top free agents. This is never ideal, but it’s especially bad when you’re trying to improve a five-win team. This leaves New Orleans with two options: they can save up and spend big on one or two above-average free agents, or they can buy low on multiple players to try and catch lightning in a bottle.
Given the absurd amount of holes on the roster, buying low is the best way to go. In a perfect world, the Saints would accept that it will take time to fix this roster. However, Loomis has never operated this way, and there’s no reason to believe he’ll start now. New Orleans needs help throughout the roster, and the only way they can fill most of their holes is by hoping to get lucky on low-risk, high-reward signings. Admittedly, most of them probably won’t work out, but the ones that do will provide a remarkable return on investment that could carry this team to the postseason.
Main Photo: Stephen Lew – USA Today Sports
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