ESPN’s Bill Barnwell picked the New Orleans Saints as one team he doesn’t expect to see in the playoffs next season, with their projected losses mounting too high for the team to overcome after Drew Brees moves on to his expected retirement.
It’s bad enough to see the Saints out of the 2021 playoff picture altogether. But the upstart Tampa Bay Buccaneers are Barnwell’s projected No. 1 seed, and the always-rebuilding Atlanta Falcons are one of his choices to sneak in as a wild-card team. Just how bad does he expect the Saints to be? Here’s some of his explanation:
“The New Orleans Saints are the team most conspicuous by their absence, but you can probably guess why I’m skeptical. Drew Brees‘ expected retirement and the $100-plus-million cap hole the Saints find themselves in heading into 2021 mean this roster will be significantly less talented than the one we saw over the past several seasons. Coach Sean Payton is still going to be an offensive genius, but New Orleans’ 2021 season feels like it could be similar to the Patriots’ 2020.”
Barnwell added that he doesn’t envy the Saints’ chances against a first-place schedule without Brees and any salary cap casualties, but that’s a challenge the team has overcome in recent seasons, having won 13, 13, and 12 games after earning first-place schedules (and going 8-1 without Brees starting at quarterback).
New Orleans is the only team in the NFC to reach the postseason in each of the last four years (the Eagles, Rams, and Seahawks have each done so three times), making them one of two teams in the entire league to reach the playoffs in that span (along with the Chiefs).
Maybe things look different in the fall after a Saints offseason full of painful losses. But this is quite a pessimistic view to start off with.
