Saints: 3 reasons New Orleans will win the NFC South crown in 2023

The New Orleans Saints have been wading the water, barely staying afloat since Drew Brees walked out the door. The franchise also lost its Hall of Fame head coach the following offseason, signaling the dawn of a new era in The Big Easy. Can the team pull off an NFC South title in 2023?

In Brees’ place has been a carousel of quarterbacks, including the likes of Jameis Winston, Taysom Hill, and Andy Dalton. Things went about as well as you would expect from that assortment of passers, with the Saints posting a 16-18 record since 2021.

Dennis Allen was tasked with filling Payton’s gargantuan shoes. He did everything he could last season, but the uneven play behind center kept New Orleans from getting hot. In Year 1 under Allen, the Saints stumbled to a third-place finish in the NFC South.

This offseason, rather than finally opting for a full-scale rebuild, general manager Mickey Loomis doubled down on his expensive, aging roster by throwing even more money at a quarterback and safety the past two offseasons — with both players being on the wrong side of 30.

That said, Derek Carr and Tyrann Mathieu have enough juice left in them to propel the Saints back into postseason play in 2023. Let’s dive deeper as we examine the three reasons New Orleans can win the NFC South this season.