Feb. 26, 2026, 5:01 p.m. CT
While the NFL may have won an appeal to prevent the NFL Players Association from publishing its annual team report cards, ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler still found a way to share them. And feedback from New Orleans Saints players highlights big improvements for the team across the board — most notably their food and dining area at headquarters. Extensive work on the team cafeteria attached to the indoor practice facility prompted the Saints to move their training camp to California in 2024, and now that they’ve had time to settle in, players seem impressed with the results. After rating the Saints with an F in 2024’s report cards and barely improving to a D- in 2025, New Orleans got an A- in 2026. That’s a big jump.
All told, the Saints’ players graded their team with higher scores in treatment of families (up to a B from a D+ and C the last two years), the training room, training staff, and weight room (going from a B-plus in each category to an A or A-). Their grade for head coach Kellen Moore was an A-minus, a full letter grade above what Dennis Allen received (B- in each of the last two seasons). The only category they took a step back in was the locker room, which fell to a B from an A- in 2025. It was also given a B rating in 2024.
But other teams got better, too. Overall, the Saints ranked 11th-best among their peers this season after finishing 12th the year before, and a fall from 10th in 2024 (the first year these report cards were made public). Still, they’re on the right side of the league’s middle class, and it’s refreshing to see few glaring problems within the organization like in past years. Here’s the full breakdown:
Category202420252026Treatment of familiesD+CBFood/Dining areaFD-A-Nutrionist/dieticianB-B+B+Locker roomBA-BTraining roomB+B+ATraining staffBB+AWeight roomBB+A-Strength coachesA-A-ATeam travelBA-A-Head coachB-B-A-OwnershipB+AA-Position coachesN/AN/AB-Offensive coordinatorN/AN/AB-Defensive coordinatorN/AN/AASpecial teams coordinatorN/AN/AA-General managerN/AN/ABHome game fieldN/AN/ACOverall rank10th12th11th
You’ll notice some new categories for position coaches, coordinators on offense, defense, and special teams, as well as the general manager and home field. The Saints take a lot of pride in playing on new turf at the Caesars Superdome each season and the expensive stadium upgrades have demanded a ton of attention, too. We don’t have much clarity on why the players gave it a C, the lowest grade of any category, so we’ll keep an eye out for an explanation there. It’s worth noting that the two NFL teams which play on sod surfaces indoors, the Arizona Cardinals (B) and Las Vegas Raiders (A-), each received higher marks.
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