Ouch. Touchdown Wire's Jarrett Bailey shared his pre-draft NFL power rankings, and he didn't hold back on the New Orleans Saints. With the 2025 draft just weeks away and most of the offseason already behind us, Bailey ranked the Saints second-worst among the NFL's 32 teams.
Bailey just doesn't see much to get excited about in his assessment of the roster Mickey Loomis has built, writing:
"Hmm. An offense with one true weapon quarterbacked by Derek Carr. A defense in which most of their top players were born when Madonna was in her prime (Cam Jordan was born four months after "Like A Prayer" was released). All of whom are led by Kellen Moore - doesn't exactly scream 'playoffs.'"
That's harsh, but it's fair, too. After three years of treading water in the very-bad NFC South, the Saints finally went belly-up and lost a dozen games last year. Now they're being ranked 31st out of 32 teams in offseason power rankings, with only the Tennessee Titans in a lower spot. And while Tennessee has the first overall draft pick on their side, the Saints are stuck picking ninth. They'll have a hard time injecting much juice to the roster without a premium draft pick.
Like Bailey pointed out, they lack star power on both sides of the ball. Alvin Kamara has been doing it by himself offensively, at least in-between bad balls thrown by Carr that sent Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed to the hospital. On defense, we've had to watch Jordan, Demario Davis, and Tyrann Mathieu each lose a step as the unit has gotten slower by the year. Who are the players being marketed to fans as a reason to show up on Sundays?
What about the rest of the NFC South? The Carolina Panthers are the next-worst team in the division, at least according to Bailey's rankings (clocking in at No. 25) and they built a lot of momentum down the stretch last year. The Atlanta Falcons are a few rungs up the ladder (at No. 20), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the only team to rank inside the league's top half (at No. 15). It's a weak division, again, but New Orleans isn't exactly benefiting from that -- Bailey adds that "playing the Saints twice will help" all three NFC South rivals' outlook.
Maybe these predictions are wrong. The Saints are telling themselves they can compete with anybody, and Loomis has continued to express confidence, if not defiance, when confronted with the hurdles in front of his team. Maybe Carr rebuilds his stock in Moore's offense and a few draft picks on defense liven up that unit. Maybe the Saints surprise some people. But any time you're asking "Maybe this, or maybe that" so many times in one breath, it might be time to take a step back and reevaluate where things stand.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL power rankings: Saints ranked second-to-last before 2025 draft
