Several themes emerged about the Saints in the release of the second annual set of grades from the NFPLA, one being that New Orleans has some important things to address.
The Saints graded out in the Bs in eight of 11 categories, but landed just one A.
Here's how the grades broke down:
- Treatment of families: D+ (20th)
- Food/cafeteria: F (30th)
- Nutrition: B- (22nd)
- Locker room: B (12th)
- Training room: B+ (4th)
- Training staff: B (15th)
- Weight room: B (14th)
- Strength coaches: A- (14th)
- Team travel: B (7th)
- Head coach: B- (29th)
- Ownership: B+ (11th)
The Saints landed at No. 19 overall and scored above average in most categories, with a few exceptions.
Letter grades vary somewhat across the league, so the rank among peers is significant. The Saints graded out at A- for its strength coaches, but the grade ranked No. 14 in the NFL. Meanwhile the Saints' training room graded out at a B+, which was 4th in the NFL.
The Saints also appeared to have made headway in the nutrition category, with their grade coming in at a B- after landing a failing grade in 2023. That is due, in part, to an expanded categories list in the second edition of the survey. The Saints still graded in at an F for their cafeteria, which has been criticized for being too small and for the team continuing to be one of just two teams to not offer three meals per day. The team appears to be rectifying at least some of those issues with a renovation this offseason, a project that is expected to force the team's training camp out of the area. The Saints landed another ugly mark with a D+ in treatment of families, with criticism levied at the inability of family members to get adequate communication from the team.
The Saints continued to get high marks in the ownership and facility categories.
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Perhaps the most interesting category was head coach, a category added for the first time in this year's survey. Dennis Allen, came in at 29th among head coaches, and the Saints were one of 10 teams that landed a grade of B- or worse.
There were three teams that graded in the Cs or worse (Falcons, Raiders and Commanders), with all three teams firing their coaches. The Chargers and Patriots were also represented in that group, with each team moving on from their top coach.
The five remaining coaches of that 10 belong to the Bucs, Saints, Browns, Jets and Bears, all of whom could be said to be on varying degrees of thin ice.
The survey noted that Allen was rated 28th in "willingness to listen to the locker room" and he was 20th in being "efficient" with player time.
The ratings for all 32 teams came as part of the NFLPA's ongoing efforts to provide something of an offseason road map for players, particularly free agents, as they navigate the league looking for their next contract. For the second consecutive offseason, questionnaires were sent to each player, with 1,300 responding. Those responses and feedback were used to establish grades and information about each team that all players will then have access to.
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The survey was conducted from Nov. 26 to Aug. 26, 2023, marking for a varied pool. Some responses could be relative to a training camp experience or the prior season, while responses later in that window could reflect a good chunk of the 2023 season. It's also unclear the frequency of respondents per team, though the total would average out to 53 players per 32 teams. Relative to a 90-man roster, that would represent a significant sample size.
The process is meant to highlight positive traits for each team, but also to warn of potential issues. Among the poorly graded, one team stands out in the Washington Commanders with a failing grade in five different categories. No other team failed in more than three categories. Conversely, the Miami Dolphins were the only organization to grade in the As across the board.