The Saints will begin their ninth playoff run under head coach Sean Payton Sunday when the team faces the Chicago Bears at 3:40 p.m. in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Drew Brees has been the quarterback in all of those runs including the 2009 Super Bowl run. Brees said Wednesday that although he’s only played for Saints for the past 15 years, this feels like the fourth team he’s started for.
“Like when you take, kind of, pockets of the core group of guys from '06 to '09 and then from '09 to '13 and there was like, '14, '15, '16 that kind of lived on its own and now '17 to 2020. Those are really four totally different teams, units, groups, cultures,” Brees said. “So yeah, there's always tons of turnover in this league. I would actually say that our team is probably one of those teams that has experienced the least bit of turnovers at the core positions ever since I've been here.”
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This Saints roster is arguably one of the most talented Brees has been a part of and features 10 former first-round draft picks, the third most of any New Orleans roster since Payton was hired in 2006.
But more important than the number of high picks or top tier free agents, is those players' traits, Payton said. And what the Saints looked for as they built this playoff roster hasn’t changed since 2006.
“We are looking for smart, tough, talented players, but with good football IQ,” Payton said. “I think that is important. And more often than not, when we've missed on that element of the evaluation. Not always, we went through a stretch where, oh, a period of drafts that weren't very good.
“I think Jeff (Ireland's) done a fantastic job. And then, man, we kind of look back at six, we look back on a number of these drafts that we've had that we've really valued and just being consistent relative to what we're looking for and not being enticed or brought to or away from those core beliefs. And I think that's served as well."
Saints receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who signed with New Orleans as a free agent this offseason, said he’s noticed a common personality trait in the Saints locker room as well.
“I think there are no really 'me' guys in the locker room,” he said. “I think it's a lot of team guys. And I have been enjoying this locker room, we have a lot of different personalities.”
Following those traits, the Saints have built a solid culture that’s served them well this season. New Orleans’s culture contributed to building depth which came in handy this season as the franchise earned the No. 2-seed in the NFC playoffs and became the first team to sweep the NFC South, despite several key contributors missing games due to injury or COVID-19.
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That depth was on display as the Saints played the regular season finale without, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, C.J. Gardner-Johnson or Latavius Murray.
“I think it starts with, look, it starts with a culture we believe we've kind of created and we're looking for like-minded players that can fit, that we feel like we have a vision for,” Payton said.
Saints linebacker Demario Davis said building the type of depth the Saints have this season is not an easy feat.
“You have a top quarterback, a top receiver, a top running back, top tackle, top defensive ends, top linebackers, top corners, top safeties, top interior D-linemen, that's hard to do,” he said. “That's hard to build. I feel like that's a combination of drafting right, understanding the right free agents to get, working the system and getting the right trades, and then having the coaches to develop those guys when they get here and build a system they can thrive in. So there is a lot and that is not an easy thing to do. And so I think the front office is to be commended for the type of talented roster we have. And the players are too, to be able to go out and execute on a consistent basis."