{"id":855212,"date":"2026-04-05T14:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T14:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/855212\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T14:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T14:42:17","slug":"espn-just-affirmed-what-saints-fans-were-saying-for-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/855212\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN just affirmed what Saints fans were saying for weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5f\">After the way the New Orleans Saints surged to close out the 2025 season, their entire mindset entering 2026 should have shifted toward building a roster designed to truly contend.\u00a0\u00a0Finishing strong wasn\u2019t just encouraging but was a clear signal that this team is closer to competing than rebuilding.\u00a0\u00a0Their offseason approach should\u2019ve reflected that urgency.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5i\">Despite having limited cap space to maneuver, their Saints operated with clear urgency this offseason, proving they are serious about competing now.\u00a0\u00a0Rather than sitting back and blaming financial issues, they addressed their biggest needs swiftly.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5l\">Their impressive offseason moves didn\u2019t go unnoticed as they earned the No. 4 ranking on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/48259765\/2026-nfl-free-agency-class-rankings-teams-improved-better-worse-32-signings-deals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN\u2019s<\/a> free agency class rankings.\u00a0\u00a0This is a clear sign that league analysts recognize just how effective New Orleans maximized its resources.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe overall approach. The Saints didn&#8217;t have a ton of cap space, as they&#8217;re still extricating themselves from void years of seasons past. But the light is on the horizon, and what space they had they used well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New Orleans Saints offseason should put them on track to compete<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5r\">The New Orleans Saints made it a clear priority to elevate their offense this offseason.\u00a0\u00a0They hit major needs with players like Travis Etienne, veteran lineman David Edwards, and athletic tight end Noah Fant to strengthen the unit at every level.\u00a0\u00a0They didn\u2019t stop there, as they brought in linebacker Kaden Elliss to reinforce their heart of the defense and add stability to the linebacker corps.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5u\">That\u2019s exactly why the Saints&#8217; offseason deserves to be ranked among the leagues top five.\u00a0\u00a0They maximized value, filled critical needs, and avoided longterm cap issues.\u00a0\u00a0It wasn\u2019t about winning headlines, it was about building a roster that fits their identity and positions them to compete immediately.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5x\">Now with a roster that\u2019s deeper and more balanced than a year ago, the Saints can now focus on the draft to continue to improve their roster.\u00a0\u00a0New Orleans should be ready to take the next step if everything falls in place.\u00a0\u00a0If they carry over the intensity that closed out 2025 and pair it with the upgrades made in March, this will be a team competing for playoff positioning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After the way the New Orleans Saints surged to close out the 2025 season, their entire mindset entering&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,896,55,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-855212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-orleans","10":"tag-new-orleans-saints","11":"tag-neworleans","12":"tag-neworleanssaints","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}