Early look at the Detroit Lions 2017 Opponents: New Orleans Saints

Quarterback

Drew Brees is one of the best in the NFL despite his relatively diminutive stature and lack of elite arm strength. He is in the twilight of his career, but he has shown no signs that age is diminishing his skill set. Brees had another All-Pro level performance in 2016, passing for 5,208 yards, completing 70% of his passes, and throwing 37 touchdowns. He has been a stalwart presence for the Saints, missing only two games in the last ten seasons.

Brees has been the poster child for Lions fans who are against the idea of giving Matthew Stafford a long term contract at a large price tag. He has taken every cent he could from the Saints, often in contentious and antagonistic negotiations. Brees has not been the Saints problem on the field, but his negotiations have definitely hurt the team. In 2016 for example, Brees and the Saints were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension until September seventh.

Because of how that negotiation went, the Saints carried Brees’ $30 million salary cap charge through the free agency period. They gained $13 million in cap relief with the extension, but it was far too late to use that cap space to augment a team that went 7-9 for the third straight season.

Wide Receivers

Michael Thomas surprised everyone with his 92 catch 1137 yard rookie season. The 6’3″ 212lb receiver added nine touchdowns to that impressive stat line. He will be the number one receiver again and pose an interesting challenge for the Lions secondary with his combination of size and athleticism.

Behind Thomas, the departure of Brandin Cooks to the Patriots has left a void. Willie Snead played in 70% of the Saints offensive snaps last year and is likely to be their number two. He is not a bad Fantasy sleeper as the Saints passing volume leads to big yardage for at least two receivers.

The Saints also added Ted Ginn. He has been a one-dimensional player, but it is a good dimension to add to a team if you are only adding one. Ginn’s speed makes him dangerous. He will not be making his money on underneath crossing routes, but he will back the Lions safety group a step or two farther from the line of scrimmage. Former Lions Corey Fuller is in camp for the saints. The fact that he has a shot at making their roster tells you all you need to know about the rest of their receiver depth chart.

Tight Ends

Coby Fleener had a pretty good season last year. It was his first with the Saints, and he struggled early with their complex scheme. He had a few games where he looked great early, but fizzled out quickly. He had more than three catches only twice in the second half of 2016. One of those was, of course, a five reception, 86 yard game against the Lions.

He has said that he feels more comfortable with the scheme going into his second year with the team. That is not a good thing for a Lions defense that will be deploying Tahir Whitehead and rookie Jarrad Davis in coverage against him. The rest of the Saints tight end group are blockers first, but Josh Hill can make a team regret forgetting that he is there.