The New Orleans Saints are more than halfway through their training camp practice slate, but any positivity in that stretch hasn't done much to sway perception around the league heading into the 2024 season.
That's what the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert detailed this week to a caller on SportsTalk, expressing some unchecked optimism heading into Week 2 of the preseason slate.
"He’s looking at the glass beyond half full, it’s flowing over. But you know, that’s why they play the game," Hebert said. "In the NFL you say any given Sunday … I can tell you right now, we ain’t been like this in a while. We’re definitely under the radar. We are under the radar, there’s no one expecting — the Saints are nobody’s dark horse."
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The Saints came into this season with their over under set at 7.5 wins, despite going 9-8 a year ago with a similarly constructed roster. They've rebuilt the offensive coaching staff, but that has done little to boost expectations around the league. That Saints head into this season with the third best odds to win the division behind the Bucs and Falcons, the latter of whom added Kirk Cousins and swung a trade for pass-rusher Matt Judon this week, but have gone six full seasons without winning more than 7 games.
That said, those projections don't really mean anything, and every year there are teams that outperform them, to the surprise of those some analysts. That's what the Saints are hoping to do this year.
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"Even when Sean Payton and Drew, even when like that was a disappointing season, we were hovering around .500, they’d still tell you watch out for the Saints," Hebert continued. "There ain’t nobody saying that now. I’m telling you, you do shows around the country, no, we are under, under the radar. I’m telling you. So I don’t know if that’s going to be a good or bad thing. It’s good if you can keep that chip on your shoulder, then you win and them all of a sudden — because there’s going to be a team, this happens every year, that you could be on an ESPN show, whatever it might be after a month, month and a half, ‘whoa, no one expected this team to be 5-0.’ All of a sudden ‘oh, they’re 5-1, leading the division, look at the fast start they got off to.’ "
So what would that start look like for the Saints? It's a bit of a moving target, and concerns abound about the state of the offensive line, particularly when it comes to new right tackle Trevor Penning. The Saints have a favorable matchup against the Panthers in Week 1, but then draw the Cowboys, Eagles, Falcons (road), Chiefs and Bucs (home). How they handle that stretch will likely determine the level of optimism that can be justified the rest of the way.
"Right now I just hope … and I’m still gonna have hope then, that we’re 3-3," the Cajun Cannon said. "If we’re 1-5, I’m gonna be highly discouraged, because that ain’t gonna be good.”
The Saints won't have joint practices against the 49ers this week, with those two sessions called off due to San Francisco's mounting injuries, but they'll have another pair of chances to build some optimism with a road showdown on Sunday against the Niners, followed by a home matchup with the Titans in the preseason finale next week.