Ep. 128 | Saints Free Agency Begins and the "thrill" of bringing back Derek Carr

AAND WE'RE BACK!! It seems like the world was a different place the last time we recorded - Carr had just retired, new Saints fans have been born since then (Congrats to our guy Jono!), wives have appeared on friends' podcast (Saints, City, and Me brilliance at its finest), a garbage truck crashed and got lodged for weeks blocking an on-ramp we all use in the city AND was removed by construction crews....BUT, most importantly, the Saints completed their OTA's and mandatory minicamp (with some paintball and FIve O Fore Golf thrown into the mix), SO...we dive into all of it in this one.Of course, we talk about the Saints "QB Battle" and in true 28 to 3 fashion, we argue and debate it out on what should be expected/how we should view this "battle". Are we expecting big things for Penning in Kellen Moore's offense?? Also, has Alontae Taylor finally accepted his fate as the "Star" of the defense - or simply "not an outside cornerback"?? TUNE IN to hear our takes on it all!WHO DAT?! #FTF

It definitely wasn't what we had on our bingo cards for how the Saints' Derek Carr Saga would end, but the news of his retirement definitely brought the result we wanted: Moving on from Carr and beginning the process of finding the QB of the future. Will it be Shough, Rattler, none of the above? Time will tell, but Carr being off this team provides a breath of fresh air and a clean start that we see as only helping the team moving forward.We get into a post-mortem of where Derek Carr went wrong with this franchise - obviously, he didn't embrace the city as fans would have liked to see - but was that all there was below the vitriol and twitter dragging he always received? Would it have been different if he simply won more games/led us to the playoffs? "Playing quarterback" was his "job", so do we think he was under any requirement to go out of his way to a "NOLA Guy" and be more present around town like Brees was or even Jameis of late? Or, was simply clocking in and clocking out all that we should have expected?Also, retirement...we get into why we think this outcome, in light of all that had come out (or not come out) regarding the extent and timing of his shoulder injury - especially given the statements issued by both the Saints and Carr announcing the retirement - are more reminiscent of a legal settlement allowing both sides to move on without a fight, than simply an aging vet deciding to "hang up his cleats."A lot to discuss in this one. TUNE IN! WHO DAT?!

In one of the most improbable moves, the Saints used ALL NINE of their picks in the 2025 draft. NO trades at all, using all 4 picks in the top 100. Without looking any further, we agree that - from jump - that's the best thing to come out of this draft. Now, after that, we begin to disagree. As a "PROGRAMMING ALERT"...we should mention that we talked about the #ShedeurSlide for about the first 8 minutes...,(falling into our tendency to wander off on tangents, but this time we just happened to do it in the beginning of this episode). SO....we won't be offended if you want to skip ahead to get into the SAINTS draft analysis.BUT - BACK TO THE SAINTS DRAFT! Did we do the right thing with our No. 9 pick? We all love "the player" but was there too much talent on the board when we picked at 9 to sour the pick? Also, did we draft our "QB of the future" with Shough? And was 40 too high to draft him? Other than that, we like our third round picks and think that we did really well on Day 3. Also, does Corey have his Kaden Ellis 2.0 in one of the Saints UDFA's?? (HOT TAKE ALERT!) This one wasn't "quite" as long as our draft preview, but it's still a marathon episode which doesn't leave many stones unturned at all. TUNE IN! WHO DAT?!

This could quite possibly be the ONLY Saints draft preview podcast episode you'll need to listen before the draft begins on Thursday Night. (It's a marathon, so you also may not have time to listen to any others either...)We kick off this episode with a full, "on-air", unedited SEVEN ROUND MOCK DRAFT for the Saints. (Make sure to check out the YouTube Video Ep to see the draft board in action - but we got ya covered with the audio if need be). For the most part, our mock created some options at all of our picks that we could very well see being realistic scenarios, and after it was all said and done....we actually all agree that we'd be satisfied if the Saints come away from the draft with the picks we made. (Spoiler alert: We had the Saints using ALL NINE of their picks.)TUNE IN to hear who we picked in our full round mock draft!After we drafted, we do what we do best, cut up, debate, and go in-depth into virtually "any" scenario we could see the Saints facing beginning Thursday. As always, we have some steadfast disagreements with each other that we don't budge on, but we all agree that with Pick No. 9, there is a very specific group of six players the Saints MUST pick from. After that, it's anyone's game.DON'T MISS this ULTIMATE SAINTS DRAFT PREVIEW EP!WHO DAT?!

With the draft less than two weeks away, of course the Saints get news that their starting QB is “now dealing with” a shoulder injury that could keep him out of the 2025 season. Many are now saying that drafting a QB/Shedeur Sanders at No. 9 is the “only” option, but is it really? Does this news make it more or actually less important to go QB at No. 9? Would BPA actually be the smarter choice in this scenario, while rolling with Rattler or bringing in a vet as a one-year rental. We go into all of it in this ep and debate our differing opinions on what we really think about this curveball Carr news. TUNE IN! WHO DAT?!

So, less than an hour after we finished recording our last episode, the Saints announced the signing of Chase Young to his three-year deal - such is life sometimes for podcasters like us during an active period like NFL Free Agency. BUT, of course, the Saints continued to sign guys since then, some completely new, some old, and some "old" as in familiar in a reunion with the Black & Gold. We get into all the Saints recent action in FA signings, restructures, paycuts for fan-favorites and debate whether we like all the moves and if the team is now in position to go BPA in the draft or do we still need to do more before the draft to get there?Plus, the buzz around the Saints interest in Cam Ward, the presumed No. 1 pick in the draft, has gotten surprising high in recent days. We've broken down in a previous episode the pitfalls of trading up to get a QB in the first round. Does our previous conclusion - that it's "always" a bad idea - apply to the the Saints possibly trading up for a much-needed future starter like Ward or would trade up now be an exception to our established rule - given our need for a young QB1 of the future? TUNE IN to find out!WHO DAT?!

The NFL Free Agency "legal tampering" period began earlier in the day we recorded this (Monday 3/10), and spoiler alert, the Saints signed Chase Young to his deal about an hour AFTER we finished recording this one. Nonetheless, we get into what the Saints have done thus far and debate slightly differing opinions on how the rest of free agency/the offseason looks for roster building. Plus, of course, we talk about the Saints' restructure of Derek Carr's contract, effectively solidifying one more year of him as our starter. We also talk about the "fallout" among fans of bringing back the starting quarterback and is it justified...for FOOTBALL reasons? A lot to discuss in this one. TUNE IN! WHO DAT?!

We get into a whole lot in this one. Breaking down the new coaching staff hires, especially the shift to a 3-4 Defense under Brandon Staley. Plus, we fall yet again into the quicksand pit of Carr vs. Rattler, or - who else would we rather see instead of either of them if the Saints were to move on? Listen in!

Super Bowl Week in our home town was definitely one for the books. The City's buzz was real as the whole NFL universe descended upon New Orleans for the big game, and the three of us took part in as many super bowl related events as we could - which, even if they weren't large in number, we definitely had a front row seat to the city putting its best foot forward, which has been met with rave reviews by pretty much any national media outlet and reporter covering the game. So, we recap our own perspectives on what was a great week, including getting the chance to meet the real GOAT, especially of our Saints, Andrew Christopher Brees. We also get into Corey taking on the "Quarterback Scramble" drill at the Super Bowl Experience, which he claims brought back old times in the Jesuit High School backfield. But...did he pick up right where he left off or pick himself up off the turf in front of his daughters?? You'll have to listen in to find out. Also, we dive in a little bit into the Super Bowl itself. Did the Eagles 40 point performance get us more behind the idea of Kellen Moore as the expected next Saints HC or was that more of a "total team" stat? TUNE IN! WHO DAT?!

With the Saints in kind of a "holding pattern" in their HC search/awaiting the conclusion of the Super Bowl to announce the expected hire of Kellen Moore, a national news bombshell blew up right on the doorstep of Airline Drive. So, we touch on the recent church scandal email release, how it's different from the news that came out a few years back, and what it may mean (or not mean) for the team as a whole. Either way, we all agree, it's something the team should have never gotten involved in and really fouled things up once they did.Aside from that, we dive into another discussion of Saints 2025 draft strategy, especially after the conclusion of the Senior Bowl in Mobile. A quick look on who stood out from that week, whether it changes the prospects we like for the team. But overall, we focus in more specifically on who we each would like to ideally see the Saints go with at pick No. 9 and how that contributes to the efforts to re-build the roster and later picks in the draft.This one's definitely worth a listen. TUNE IN! WHO DAT?!