There are currently 10 teams in the NFL who are heading into 2025 with a three-year or longer playoff drought. Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon went through each, predicting which ones would end their respective droughts.
Gagnon doesn't expect the New Orleans Saints, who haven't made the playoffs since 2020, to break their drought next season but does have one reason to think they might. The NFC South is typically a division with no elite teams.
How the Saints can take advantage of a division that's not up to par
Yes, the Saints have a new head coach, and yes, New Orleans lacks a veteran quarterback. But the team could easily use those two facts to their advantage. For one, head coach Kellen Moore, who is only 36 years old, is a former NFL QB himself, having spent six years in the league as a backup before deciding to go into coaching.
Moore could easily use his experience as a player and a coach in the league to help Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough, who have both had an impressive offseason, to grow. Additionally, he already has a Super Bowl ring as evidence of all of his early success in the league as a coach.
Furthermore, New Orleans also has one of the better receiving corps in the division, with wide receivers Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Brandin Cooks holding abilities like blistering speed and elite route running.
The NFC South race doesn't have a clear front runner
The other teams in the NFC South aren't really miles ahead of the Saints. Even the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have won the last four divisional titles, haven't looked like world beaters. Across the division, the most experienced quarterback in the league is Baker Mayfield of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, Atlanta and Carolina have players who are still on their rookie deals.
The Falcons do have veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins on the roster, but he is currently the league's most expensive backup (he has $100 million guaranteed), as Atlanta has decided to go with Michael Penix Jr., who was drafted in the first round in 2024. Their receiving corps is also lacking, as tight end Kyle Pitts has failed to live up to the expectations that he'd be their next Tony Gonzalez, averaging only 662.75 receiving yards and 2.5 touchdowns in his four-year tenure.
The Panthers are still rolling with Bryce Young and Andy Dalton as their top two quarterbacks. Although wide receiver Xavier Legette is a rising star, the organization drafted another wide receiver in the first round, Tetairoa McMillian out of Arizona. They could actually end up being something, but I'm worried that if Bryce Young starts out slow again, he'll get benched just like he was for part of the 2024 season. So to me, they're the real question mark of the division.