Saints Season Wrap Up: What BIG CHANGES Are Coming This Offseason?

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Mike Triplett of neworleans.football joins AFR to give his final thoughts on the Saints 2023 season and look ahead to the offseason.

Photo Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

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Us now how are you man doing great how are you uh I wish I had a voice but all things considered I know what happened it’s not important your line of work well I I yelled and screamed like like an ass for eight minutes when I learned

Nick sain retired and uh it was it was so it was so worth it though Mike I’ll be a meme and and a gif for the rest of my life and I don’t even care because it was so worth it but man I have I am I am

On The Struggle Bus today I trying to get you left it you left what did what did you do you left it all in the microphone uh in the studio uh believe me it was not just in the microphone it was all over the studio uh I’m surprised you haven’t seen it on

Twitter uh just search you’ll find it hey um the uh the touchdown uh the scandalous touchdown heard around the world what was your take one one last take what you got yeah well I can’t completely dismiss it I I I have a feeling as time goes on uh it’s

Not g to be a lingering story I had a couple of takes I I had the one take that this incident alone I I I actually would argue I think something like this could have happened under Shawn Payton I mean we saw Michael Thomas hide a cell

Phone in the goalpost with his teammates uh you know we saw them pretending to pee on the Falcons logo you know if any of them had asked Sean Payton’s permission to do those things he would have said no and they would have been quote unquote defying their coach um but

I’m also not going to dismiss it as nothing because it is the latest in in a series of indications that we’ve gotten both in our faces and off the Record and behind the scenes that that you know the respect level is not that high uh for for Dennis Allen and and it’s something

That he’s working to overcome and it’s something that might lead to you know Personnel changes this offseason that that he has not quite captured the authority and the respect and and frankly you have to win to get that and uh we know for sure that he hasn’t won

Enough here too so is it possible to fix that that respect level you got to win you got to win um I’ve used uh I I borrowed it from some from a colleague um you know that that that suggested he has the respect level of of substitute teacher which is

You know sounds dismissive and insulting and it is to in effect but it’s still a in authority figure and the good kids in class still do their homework and turn their homework in and don’t get in trouble and if you other people know they can Goof Off um we we we saw this

Team still Thrive no matter what that respect level is we you know they have a lot of guys in the locker room take a lot of pride in what they do coaches and players alike told some of the young players that they weren’t working hard enough they weren’t studying hard enough

Um they they weren’t meeting the standard enough and they got to be tougher um and they won four of their last five games and people like dearo Davis and Cam Jordan and Eric McCoy and James Hurst and older guys and younger guys like at Perry and Chris I mean they’re still

Leaving it all out on the field so this is not a lost locker room it’s not a mutiny type of locker room uh but you got to earn it you got to earn it by winning and having success you got to prove to everyone that it works uh the

Answer to this question is going to be both but I I want you to to go more layered and tell me which is more um the struggles this year was it the players or the coaches both I know the answer is both I

Uh I uh I I would say this I I would say everybody looking at the things and being like seven and 10 and nine and8 is is unacceptable and and these aren’t my Saints and who who can tolerate mediocrity how dare how dare anyone tolerate mediocrity I just you know I I

Just defy you not to tell me that in like 2020 when you were looking at 42y Old Drew Brees or how old he was that that everyone didn’t believe when Drew Brees retires and and if Shawn Payton ever leaves and if these salary cap issues come home to Roose this is not

Going to be a great team and they’re not a great team um I think they have absolutely underachieved uh I I think Dennis Allen is underachieved I think Pete carmichel has underachieved but I don’t think they’re working with like top 10 Elite NFL roster in the first place um you

Know I mean we we’ve talked a lot about Derek Carr I think you he finally looked like what we expected him to be I think over the last month of the season but nobody thought he was going to be a top 10 quarterback we were hoping he’d be

Right in that next tier um and and a lot of these guys who’ve been all Pros pro bowlers and then getting older and getting injured Michael Thomas and uh Ryan RAM and you know demio Davis Cam Jordan these guys aren’t first second F all Pros anymore so I I I think it’s

Absolutely very fairly a combination of both so um and Mike triplets Our Guest on Twitter at Mike triplet new orleans. foot chats brought to you by Benny’s Car Wash um you’re you’re 100% right that everyone in 2020 or 2021 could have anticipated the Saints regressing post Breeze pton Etc you’re 100% right the

Question though is can this approach with this regression can the approach work of continuing to double down with the cap issues and right and this staff and these people and continuing just to try to run it back so that’s that’s my issue is I think they very clearly outlined a strategy that in

My opinion won’t work do you have a different feeling that they can find a way to make this approach work uh I think your skepticism is completely Fair um and I was more supportive of it in each of the last two years although I have I’ve I have leaned a little more

Toward the you know gosh after we were about to see Tampa Bay in the playoffs and Tampa Bay did the let’s catch up on the salary cap this year and pay a cheap quarterback in the meantime and see what happens that that’s a better way to finish nine and eight than we maximized

All our resources and finish n and eight yep um so so I like that approach better it’s easy to say in hindsight I thought the Saints approach each of the last two years was going to be good enough to win the NFC South because I also don’t

Completely tear it down and rebuild when I have Marshon lore and Cam Jordan and dearo Davis and Tyron Matthew and uh Ryan RAM and and Michael Thomas and Alvin CRA uh and and you know you you were stuck between a rock and a hard place when you probably had the most

Talented roster in this division um and and I like that they picked a direction I like that they didn’t just say let’s let’s be stuck in the middle without a plan their plan was let’s go win this thing a couple times so not winning it

These last two years um is a real shame because there was a huge opportunity to do so the other teams stunk or were rebuilding uh in some form or fashion and now I think it gets harder because I think all those guys that just Nam are

Now two years older than they were two years two years ago um and I think the rest of the division is going to keep getting better so I think it becomes harder and harder to do that um and and the problem will solve itself if they don’t replenish this roster with draft

Pick um they they did it they they they rebuilt without ever without ever tearing it down because of how great they’re 16 and 2017 draft classes were they haven’t drafted that well um So eventually you know these staples they’re not going to be able to lean on

This team this team’s going to give them no choice if they don’t start drafting B they did win four of their last five they did go from seven wins to nine wins are those material signs of progress or is that a product of you beat four bad

Teams at the end of the year and you won nine games against the worst schedule you’ve ever had yes I I think the 2020 they were pretty similar teams I was going to say I think the one that just happened probably was a little better I I think that four inone stretch

Was was something to really uh applaud um I’m Not Gon to say get excited about but I I think it’s a legitimate 4 inone stretch because the NFL stinks like every team in the NFL is playing you know three or four lousy teams a month now um there’s like three good teams and

Then everyone else everyone else is is eight and n and n and eight so um it doesn’t bother me that they went four in one like you know it wasn’t just because of the schedule they they had to beat you know they beat the Giants the Eagles

Could beat the Giants they beat you know whoever but um at Tampa Bay was a good win um but uh obviously got creamed by the Rams and outclassed and they’re not in that class so I’m not going to give them too much credit but I’m gonna count

It as four in one because because it’s pretty mediocre NFL and what you want from your teams is is to beat the bad teams because you’re going to get seven or eight of them they’re going to get seven or eight of them next year too um you want to be

Able to beat those teams so you get credit when you do but uh but yeah um you can put a little asterisk next to it since it’s one of the easiest schedules they ever had team that should have won 10 or 11 games and and flex their muscle

On that schedule instead of uh just getting by at Mike triplet is where you find him on Twitter new orleans. foot couple more for you Mike uh so they go into this off season prematurely again now three straight years without making the playoffs um every no no team year to

Year is exactly the same there’s always going to be players one year that aren’t back who are some of those guys that we’re anticipating either won’t be resigned will be cap casualties could retire any names you’re anticipating yeah won’t be back next year that’s an excellent plug for the article I just uh

Published today I went through I went through all of them um I went through all the the decisions uh that they have to make I SP up the money ramifications I spelled out the uh the football ramifications and and here’s everyone they have to make decisions on and said

The good news is even though they’re $80 million over the cap um we’ve covered this team long enough that that we could all take a a pencil and a sheet of paper out and and be the first one to raise their hand and say done it took me eight

Players to get to get under the cap and if I if I went through 18 players I’ve got him 40 million under the cap you know it can be done that’s that’s not going to be a hurt hurle to them competing this year and even better news

Is their list of free agents it’s not like oh that guy’s a free agent shoot they’re going to have to franchise tag him no like they’re all under contract Michael Thomas is not under contract Andrew Pete is not under contract jamus Winston is not under contract then you

Get into like Zack B and Isaac yam but they could afford to bring back every player on their team if they wanted to obviously though it’s football decisions that we’re talking about uh do they want to trade marshan Latimore we saw them rework his contract to set it up for a

Possible trade that that’s something they’re definitely going to explore this offseason uh Michael Thomas going to be back there’s bigger issues at play than than can they afford him does he want to be back do they want him back um you know do they want to consider anything

With these older players I don’t know how much trade value you get I expect we’ll see Alvin Camero Demario Davis Tamm Hill Cameron Jordan uh Tyron Matthew Marcus may expect we’ll see them all back but maybe they have to talk to him about pay cuts because they’re going

To start thinking about some of the things that we were talking about before but those are kind of the major ones if um if they do move on from Ryan ramch I should have mentioned Ryan ramchat because of the health issue uh he’s gonna be um they’re gonna want him back

But they’re going to need doctors to assure him that that that he is GNA be able to come back if they do trade Latimore that would be a post June 1st trade it would have to be correct because you’re talking about a 45 million dead cap hit well it wouldn’t be

45 I I WR it I think it was right around 30 um if you trade him the the way they reworked his deal is all the the actual money he’s do this year becomes the other team’s um um responsibility his salary his bonus everything so you would

Only only be charged with the previous dead money I think it’s about 30 million still a huge hit uh but something something you could theoretically do like I said I just did the math and I I could get them I could get them $30 million under the cap and then the good

News is he would he would never be on the books again so instead of like hey you know we’ve still got to pay this guy for the next three years it would hit you all at once and it would hurt but um I mean post June 1st is how you’d rather

Set it up but I but then he actually cannot go to the new team until after June 1st so I’m not positive how that would look okay I am just so disgusted at the thought of just eating $30 million just doing this all also a school of thought that that’s

What a lot of people want to see the Saints do he’s he’s the only guy that we’re talking about that could get you a first round pick I mean Chris Al could probably get you a first round pick you don’t want to trade him he’s still cheap

On The Rise but like if you traded Marshon Latimore you know I think it it would probably be right on that edge right back to the Jimmy Graham Brandon quickstay let’s call it the 31st pick in the draft get something like that um you know it’s a player you’re going to stop

Paying $20 million a year so that’s money and cap space you can you know that would be a move that signals hey we’re we’ve got our future in mind a little bit too so something we haven’t seen from this team and and I I’m going

To be very curious to see if if they show a desire and willingness to think uh more long term than right now because he’s he’s when on the field he’s the best player on the team right now um that 31st pick turned into Ryan Ramic so

Uh I I take it at this point I think if you get you’re more optimistic than I thought I gave you two examples and you went with ram instead of Stephan so look at you look at you with your rosecolor glasses I did the math and I was like

I’m pretty sure that was not the Stefan Anthony first round pick so I’ll go with Ramic um I’ll give Jeff Ireland credit for that one all right last thing what are the most glaring needs for this team this off season yeah I mean quarterback’s in play uh I think we’re

Going to talk about it a lot more strongly five weeks ago than we are now um Derek Carr really kind of found a nice Groove and uh and and maybe maybe Health was a big factor they they started talking about that at the end so think we feel better about that but but

After everything you’ve been with at the quarterback position you you can’t rule it out in this quarterback heavy draft um but uh the Urgent needs are the offensive and defensive line uh it’s been that way for a long time I I think you have to add to the defensive line in

Free agency I don’t think you have time to wait for someone to develop there I I think they need another pass rusher I don’t know if they’re paying 20 million for that guy 8 million for that guy to be part of a ro ation I think you have

To add to that and then I I I think you need to add to the left side of the line in the draft because you could bring back Andrew Pete and James HST but those aren’t long-term Solutions uh no matter what Trevor Penning is he’s going to

Need someone to play next to even even if he earns a starting job he is Mike triplet new orleans. foot on Twitter at Mike triplet with us all season long on Thursdays courtesy of Benny’s Car Wash Benny’s carwash.com hey Mike you know we appreciate your time all season man I’m

Sure I’ll bother you again at some point but I know I and our our audience appreciate you man thank you so much for making the time this season oh always happy to join you thanks for having me hey thanks so much for watching please leave your comments I love to interact

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