Saints 'Lingering Question' Will Define 2025 Season

The New Orleans Saints are a team that had some high hopes heading into the 2024 season, but injuries completely derailed the campaign.

Now, here we are a year later with the Saints coming off of a last place finish in the division, sporting a new head coach, and with a quarterback competition underway to see who will replace Derek Carr. What a difference a year makes.

There's enough talent here to wonder if the Saints could make more noise than last year in a vulnerable division, but there's nothing guaranteed for the team. New Orleans could be a .500 or better team or compete for the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. There aren't a lot of guarantees with the franchise after a transformational offseason.

Because of this, The Athletic's Larry Holder talked about the team's identity as its biggest "lingering question."

"New Orleans Saints," Holder said. "What are the Saints? Identities for teams often take a minute or two to form. As for the Saints, it feels like part of this team is in a rebuild mode and part of it thinks it’s a contender for the NFC South crown. You have a new coach in Kellen Moore and a new coaching staff. You likely have a new starting quarterback with 2025 second-rounder Tyler Shough, along with first-round picks the past two years for each tackle slot (Kelvin Banks, Taliese Fuaga).

"But then veteran players from the Saints’ winning heyday are still around, such as Alvin Kamara, Demario Davis and Cam Jordan, as well as veterans like Tyrann Mathieu, Justin Reid and Brandin Cooks. In a weak NFC South, maybe this team can still be a contender. And yet we’re possibly one bad season away from clearing the deck at quarterback and moving on from many of those aforementioned pieces."

There are a lot of unknowns when it comes to the Saints simply because of the changes the offseason has brought. That could lead to positive immediate returns, but also struggles. Luckily, July is here and now we are just a few weeks away from real action in training camp rather than just speculation left and right.