New Orleans Saints: Way too early roster projection on offense for 2021

As we enter the proverbial dog days of the New Orleans Saints’ summer offseason, with the NFL Draft as well as the team’s rookie minicamp now squarely in the rearview, and OTAs (as we knew them) perhaps never to return, we can direct our attention to the group of players from which the Saints’ 2021 roster will be formed.

Despite a national media seemingly gleeful in their foretelling of a fateful salary cap reckoning that would befall the Saints this offseason, the team emerges surprisingly intact.

Though there were losses from the core group in New Orleans that came to dominate the NFC South in recent seasons, the roster-building approach deployed by the Saints’ front office brain trust of general manager Mickey Loomis and assistant GM Jeff Ireland (not to mention cap guru Khai Harley) has positioned the team to withstand the departures.

While it remains to be seen how the loss of a franchise’s all-time great — such that the Saints experienced with the retirement of quarterback Drew Brees — could impact the team’s fortunes in the long run, Loomis and head coach Sean Payton have cobbled together what should amount to (at least) a passable succession plan under center for the season that awaits.

Even as the team readies to embark upon the first season post-Brees, this year’s training camp will bring with it competition that extends far beyond the quarterback position.

Follow along as we examine the Saints’ current roster to see what form it may take as the team whittles away to its final 53.