Where do the Saints go from here?

The playoffs are here, but lets all be honest, the only thing any of us really care about is that the Falcons don’t win a Super Bowl this year. It would be great if the Falcons could have a repeat of their debacle against the Giants a few years ago, but regardless as long as Atlanta remains ringless we as fans can consider this postseason a success. Outside of rooting against the Falcons and dreading another Super Bowl involving the Patriots and the Seahawks (because the meteor won’t come fast enough), there isn’t a lot for Saints fans to focus on right now from a football standpoint. However, even though there isn’t anything on the field to care about, there is plenty off the field to look at. Let’s take a look at a few of the things both the organization and its fans will be looking at in the coming weeks.

Filling vacant coaching positions:

Most notable are the positions of linebackers and defensive line assistant positions which were recently vacated. The firing of Greg McMahon was assumably written on the wall as soon as Kevin O’Dea was hired, and the assumption is that he is the natural fill in for that position. That still leaves us with two very important assistant positions that are currently vacant, and with the Senior Bowl and the most hectic time of the year for both scouts and coaches approaching fast the Saints need to fill these positions sooner rather than later. These positions are magnitudes more important for the Saints as linebackers in particular has been a position group devoid of both quality talent and good coaching for years, and it remains the weakest unit on the team. The Saints absolutely must fill that position with a quality coach as soon as possible, especially in a top heavy draft at that position. The defensive line has been a good unit, but never great and with them suddenly having the potential for being the youngest and most talented unit this side of the wide receivers they are also going to need a quality replacement for Bill Johnson as well.

Scouting the Senior Bowl and putting together their draft board:

The Saints are a team that is very close to being competent on defense, but they have a desperate need at a few positions and while free agency is one option to fill them, the draft is preferable in the long term. The Saints 3 biggest needs are Linebacker, Pass rusher, and Corner and the draft looks to have quality talent at all 3 spots. But as we have learned with Stephone Anthony a player can be very talented, but if they don’t fit the scheme they can just as easily be a detriment as an asset. That isn’t to say that the door is necessarily closed on Anthony, and perhaps adding a quality linebacking coach who is a little newer, a little fresher, and fits in better with Dennis Allen and his staff might give him a chance, but that is neither here nor there. What is certain is that the Saints must not only figure out which players strike their fancy, but also (and more importantly) what type of players they are looking for. The Saints may be a few pieces away, but they need to hit on the right pieces both in free agency and the draft. That all begins with isolating the right type of players who fit what you want to do, not just looking at the attributes, but how they fit into the unit as a whole.

Put together a plan for Free Agency in house and out:

The Saints only have one Free Agent of note and that is Nick Fairly and they really need to resign, and preferably to a 3 year deal. Fairly has been a steal for the Saints this season and is a key part of what is an emerging defensive line. Other than Fairly the Saints need to isolate which players fit what they want to do both on the offense and the defense. Once again the biggest component here is fit, but the second is value. Getting the perfect player at the cost of breaking the bank isn’t something the Saints can afford to do from a roster perspective or a financial one. What they need to do is focus on filling out the roster with quality veterans who fit the scheme and the locker room, if they can do that, this could just maybe be a team ready to make some noise.