METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints didn’t wait long to roll out their unofficial slogan for the 2018 season:
“There’s nothing promised.”
The Saints will almost certainly head into next season as one of the NFL’s “it” teams after a 2017 breakout that was fueled by one of the best draft classes in recent memory -- despite the devastating way their season ended in the final seconds at Minnesota on Sunday.
But you could sense during this week’s postseason wrap-up interviews that Saints coach Sean Payton, quarterback Drew Brees and other locker room leaders are already looking ahead to an offseason during which they won’t let anyone on the team rest on those lofty expectations.