There aren’t many exercises more useless than NFL power rankings, which are the ultimate subjective expression of someone’s takes. Still, they are a quick way to summarize every team’s status and outlook relative to their peers, and it’s interesting to see where the New Orleans Saints clock in.
And they didn’t earn positive marks from Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey, who ranked the Saints all the way down at No. 24 among the league’s 32 teams. Here’s why Bailey is so down on the Saints:
The Saints win the award for the team I care the least about in 2024. We know what they are. They’re the same team they’ve been for the last three years. They’ll keep kicking this can down the road, thinking they’re just one or two moves away from being contenders, only to go 7-10 and repeat the cycle (see the Chase Young and Willie Gay signings). The Panthers may win fewer games in the division, but at least they’re interesting and have a young quarterback that went No. 1 overall last year. What is interesting about watching Derek Carr overthrow Chris Olave five times a game while Taysom Hill poaches touchdowns from inside the five? Nothing. They’re a team with a lame duck head coach and a lame duck quarterback awaiting another boring, mediocre season.
The Saints are the lowest-ranked team to finish the 2023 season with a winning record, but as Bailey said this was more of a vibe check than any really substantial analysis. And it’s tough to argue with the suggestion that Derek Carr and Dennis Allen are an uninspiring duo. Neither of them have won a single playoff game in a decade as a starting quarterback or five years as a head coach (or in two seasons together, between the Saints and Raiders).
Buying what the other teams in the NFC South are selling, though: that’s indefensible. For all his interest in the Panthers, Bailey ranks them behind the Saints at No. 29 while coming off a two-win season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are further ahead at No. 21 after winning a home playoff game but having lost their offensive coordinator.
And the most baffling decision is to rank the Atlanta Falcons all the way up at No. 7, calling them Super Bowl contenders for having signed Kirk Cousins. The same quarterback who famously did not lead a much more talented Minnesota Vikings team to the Super Bowl during his six years with the team, and who is now coming off season-ending Achilles surgery while joining a team built to lean on its defense without the defensive coordinator who led them to success a year ago. Good luck with that.
