Gayle Benson isn’t pushing the panic button on the Saints, even with the season off to a 2-5 start.
Speaking Tuesday, the New Orleans owner said she believes the team’s players are putting in the work and suggested there’s still time for things to settle down, while leaving the door open for changes once the season ends.
“At the end of the season, we’ll kind of look at things and see what we need to change, but for right now, I think they’re going to be OK,” Benson said.
That’s a softer tone than the one she used in mid-October, when she called the Saints’ play “not acceptable” during a Greater New Orleans Quarterback Club luncheon and put pressure on head coach Kellen Moore and general manager Mickey Loomis to fix what’s gone wrong. This time, her message was more measured.
“They’re going to try the best they can, and that’s really all they can do,” Benson said.
The Saints entered the year with real buzz around them, with Moore in his second season as head coach and Tyler Shough stepping in for his first full season as the starter. But the results haven’t matched the optimism. New Orleans is still within reach of the NFC South race, yet the team has not lived up to the expectations that surrounded it.
One move already came during the bye week: the Saints parted ways with run-game coordinator T.J. Paganetti.
That decision made sense given how the ground attack has struggled. New Orleans ranks 28th in the league in rushing yardage, and the issues were glaring in Paris against the Pittsburgh Steelers, when the Saints managed just 18 yards on 17 attempts.
Benson was also asked about the possibility of another international trip, this time to Italy. She didn’t offer a timeline, but she made it clear the Saints are interested.
“Well, we’re working on that, but it all depends on the league. They tell us where to go,” Benson said.
“We love Paris, we love Italy. That’s my two favorite countries.”
There has already been some buzz around that idea. Times-Picayune columnist Jeff Duncan reported on X on Friday that movement is building toward the Saints playing in Italy in the near future, possibly in Milan or Rome.
The NFL had already laid some groundwork in March, when it expanded its Global Markets Program to Italy and gave the Saints marketing rights there, along with the Cleveland Browns.
Benson also had praise for her other team, the Pelicans, and said she likes where things are headed under first-year head coach Jamahl Mosley.
“They’re doing great,” Benson said. “I’m so excited for Jamahl and [executive vice president of basketball operations] Joe Dumars. It’s just such a great time for the Pelicans.”
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New Orleans does have a potential in-house answer waiting on the practice squad in Charlie Smyth, who showed enough last season to stay in the conversation. For a team that has spent too much time worrying about points left on the field, the next kicking decision now becomes just as important as the one it already made. [Read more 🡒]