The New Orleans Saints will be starting at least eight new players in 2021, having lost incumbents in all three phases to retirement (Drew Brees), the salary cap crunch (Janoris Jenkins, Emmanuel Sanders, Malcom Brown), free agency (Trey Hendrickson), or simply poor performance (Jared Cook, Thomas Morstead).
And that’s not accounting for turnover throughout the roster’s middle class, where a couple of youngsters are competing to replace Kwon Alexander or Justin Hardee in the kicking game, or stand out in the receiving corps and defensive line rotation.
All those factors combined for a poor ranking by Pro Football Focus’ Ben Linsey for ESPN+, who put the Saints all the way down at No.