New Orleans Saints: 5 offseason needs in 2019

A not-so-funny thing happened to the New Orleans Saints as they came up short of reaching Super Bowl LIII. Can Sean Payton’s team bounce back in ’19?

This past season, the New Orleans Saints won a second straight division title for the first time in the team’s fascinating his story. Sean Payne’s team reached the NFC title game for the first time since 2009. But as fate would have it, the club wound up coming up short at home against the Los Angeles Rams in overtime, 26-23.

But what about the next few months for this franchise? The club has limited salary cap space and as of this writing, no selections in the first, third and fourth rounds of April’s draft. And what does this club need to address sooner than later?

5. Re-work QB Drew Brees’ contract

Some would say that his performance fell off late in 2018. And there’s been speculation that Saints’ veteran quarterback Drew Brees wasn’t healthy down the stretch and in the playoffs. Regardless, the NFL’s all-time leader in career passing yards has every intention of taking the field for a 19th NFL season and 14th in the Crescent City. But there’s this little matter of finance and how Brees’ salary cap number for 2019 could or will affect the team.

Via Spotrac, the veteran signal-caller’s cap-hit in ’19 will be $33.5 million. Currently, the team is just $9.9 million over the salary cap. Granted, there are three other players – left tackle Terron Armstead, defensive end Cameron Jordan and guard Larry Warford – have cap numbers exceeding $10 million. But the restructuring will probably begin with Brees as the Saints have a few quality free agents that would likely want to retain.