Saints offense ranked among NFL’s most-improved units going into 2023

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There’s a lot to like about the New Orleans Saints offense — on paper, per Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, who says the Saints are the second-most improved offense going from the 2022 season into 2023, trailing only the Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets.

The way they see it, the Saints are upgrading over every player they moved on from offensively. Here’s how Ballentine broke it down:

When you look at who the Saints lost on offense this offseason there isn’t a single player they will miss based on who they have on the roster or who is replacing them.

Adding Derek Carr gives them a viable starter for years. He has finished 14th in total QBR in each of the last two seasons.

Jarvis Landry (272 yards) and Marquez Callaway (158 yards) weren’t difference-makers last season in the receiving corps. Their departure isn’t likely to hurt and swapping out Mark Ingram for Jamaal Williams and Kendre Miller gives the backfield more depth and youth moving forward.

The team traded away Adam Trautman but replaced him with Foster Moreau who has familiarity with Carr from their time with the Raiders.

Going from Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston to Derek Carr was one of the biggest quarterback upgrades of the offseason. There were no huge additions outside of Carr, but that’s enough to land them highly on this list.

Look, that’s a compelling list of positive moves. You’d be forgiven for having high expectations for the Saints in the fall. But until they back up all of this hype during games, we risk confusing the cohesive vision for a wispy mirage.

It’s possible that poor coaching decisions hold the team back again this year. There’s a chance Carr doesn’t perform at as high of a level as anticipated. All of this turnover isn’t necessarily a good thing with so many new role players picking up the playbook. And the offensive line is just as prone to injury now as it was six months ago.

But it’s the offseason. If there’s a time to daydream and set high standards, it’s now, when we don’t have to watch Dennis Allen agonize over fourth-down decisions minutes after Pete Carmichael Jr. sends Alvin Kamara running into the teeth of the defense on second down. If the Saints and their supporters end up being wrong and the offense struggles to put points on the board again, well, we’ll just have to eat crow and hope for serious changes this time next year.

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