Saints ranked near the bottom of the league in early 2024 power rankings
With the 2023 NFL season officially over, analysts have already started ranking teams for next year. The New Orleans Saints clearly have a lot of work to do.
With the Kansas City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl on Sunday, the NFL world has already turned the page to next season. Fans and media members are talking about next year’s Super Bowl odds, draft prospects, and free agency moves that could define the offseason. Naturally, there has to be some sort of rankings as well.
Following the conclusion of the Super Bowl, ESPN released their Early NFL power rankings for 2024. These rankings will change throughout the offseason as teams make moves, and also during next season, as teams actually face off on the field. For now, the list is how teams are viewed entering the 2024 offseason.
The New Orleans Saints, who are coming off a 9-8 season where they missed the playoffs, were ranked near the bottom of the league at No. 22.
Saints ranked No. 22 in ESPN’s early power rankings
With each ranking, the experts described the offseason in three words. For New Orleans, the three words were “maintaining status quo.” Katherine Terrell pointed out that the Saints aren’t planning any big moves, so the offseason will likely consist of trying to keep the roster together so the team can make the playoffs next season.
The Saints were only a game away from the postseason, so this is definitely a feasible approach. However, New Orleans must ask itself if it is set up to contend for a title. Making the playoffs is one thing but winning a Super Bowl is a completely different beast. The standard for the Saints isn’t making the playoffs; no one would be happy with a wild card loss.
That’s why New Orleans needs to do more than maintain the status quo this offseason. For the last three seasons, the status quo has been hovering around a .500 record and missing the playoffs. The Saints will need a big shift to go from that to being a title contender. Maybe Klint Kubiak taking over the offense will push New Orleans further in the right direction, but it’ll likely take more for the Saints to climb up these power rankings.
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