Here’s a big scoop from Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan, who reports that the New Orleans Saints plan to relocate their 2024 training camp away from the team’s headquarters in Metairie.
Specifically, Duncan reports that construction and renovations on the cafeteria at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center “will force the Saints to hold their 2024 training camp elsewhere.” Whether or not that is a result of players criticizing the cafeteria’s offerings in a recent NFLPA survey may be up for interpretation.
The Saints held training camp in West Virginia (at the Greenbrier golf resort) for several years under former head coach Sean Payton, who also moved them to Mississippi (Millsaps College in Jackson) in his first year on the job. But for the most part they’ve worked in the heat of the New Orleans summer. Rising temperatures have forced them to adjust practice schedules, though, and this is an opportunity for the team’s decision-makers to take the show on the road.
It’s also an opportunity to give fans outside New Orleans a rare opportunity to see their team in person. Moving to a less-challenging climate could reduce the number of injuries that have troubled players at training camp, too. Many other teams hold training camp away from their headquarters — including the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys — so this could be a smart move. We’ll see what the Saints ultimately choose to do.
