Saints Shake Up Coaching Staff With First Firing of Offseason

The New Orleans Saints have been caught up in all the Sean Payton drama recently, but that hasn't stopped them from getting a start on their offseason. The Saints made their first notable move on Thursday by firing a veteran assistant coach.

Saints Fire Dan Roushar

New Orleans is moving on from Dan Roushar, who's been a coach with the organization since 2013. He served in a variety of roles for the Saints over the past decade, including running backs coach, tight ends coach, offensive line coach, and most recently run game coordinator and tight ends coach.

Unfortunately for Roushar, New Orleans' offense has taken a downturn in recent seasons. While the retirements of Drew Brees and Sean Payton have played a large role in that, they're not around anymore to bear the blame.

The Saints' drop-off in scoring over the past few years has been dramatic, to say the least. New Orleans went from averaging 30.1 points per game in 2020 (Brees' final season) to 21.4 points per game in 2021 (Payton's final season) to 19.4 points per game in 2022. That's an extremely alarming trend for the Saints, who have seen their record fall from 12-4 to 9-8 to 7-10 during that span as well.

Ultimately, New Orleans needs to draft a new quarterback. Andy Dalton, Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill clearly aren't the answer under center. Firing Roushar may have been warranted, but it's not going to solve the Saints' offensive woes overnight.