Saints News: Insiders Reveal Why New Orleans Didn't Rebuild

The Saints opted against rebuilding this offseason...

Oct 30, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; General view of the New Orleans Saints logo as the midfield logo fleur-de-lis after the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Las Vegas Raiders at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

There was some buzz early in the offseason that this would be a great time to rebuild for the New Orleans Saints.

New Orleans went 5-12 in 2024 and was staring at a very difficult salary cap position. The Saints had the lowest salary cap space in the National Football League after the Super Bowl with the metric even reaching over -$51 million.

The Saints didn't rebuild, though. New Orleans really hasn't had much turnover at all this offseason. The Saints lost Derek Carr to retirement only after restructuring his deal and publicly committing to him around the NFL Combine. The Saints re-signed guys like Chase Young and Juwan Johnson and has been significantly more active than initially expected.

So, why didn't the Saints rebuild despite looming financial issues and an aging roster?

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Katherine Terrell shared a column on Friday talking all things Saints and shared that the team considered "scaling back" but is looking for "one last run."

"One team source believes the Saints at least considered scaling back the roster in an effort to rebuild two years ago but that Loomis wants to make one last run at a winner," Fowler and Terrell said. "The Saints retained a number of their older veterans, working out incentive-based contracts for players such as Cameron Jordan (age 35) and Tyrann Mathieu (33), whose contracts are set to void next season along with Taysom Hill (34) and Demario Davis (36).

"And, to be sure, Loomis is used to winning. The Saints were a perennial contender with Sean Payton on the sideline and Brees under center in the mid-2000s. 'I think they see things as the NFC South is still very winnable, and they are in a position to be underestimated now,' a veteran NFL personnel man said. 'They would have to rely heavily on the run to be successful this year in my opinion.'"

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