New Orleans Saints: 3 major needs for the NFL offseason

The New Orleans Saints were eliminated earlier from the playoffs than many anticipated. There are three major needs they must address in the offseason.

The New Orleans Saints had a nice regular season during 2019 and many believed heading into the playoffs, they might be a dark horse to win a Super Bowl. In the Wild Card Round, the Saints went up against the Minnesota Vikings and they couldn't get the job done in overtime.

With the Saints heading into the offseason faster than expected, they can now shift focus to be improving this team. Let's breakdown three major needs for the Saints this offseason.

3. Wide receiver

Michael Thomas is a star wide receiver, but the Saints could really use an upgrade at the rest of their wide receiving corps. Ted Ginn Jr. is set to be a free agent, and even if the team brings him back. he should be the team's third wide receiver, not their second.

The Saints are set to have over $12 million in cap space, according to spotrac.com. If they decided to spend some money on a wide receiver, there are going to be some options. How good would A.J. Green or Emmanuel Sanders look in a Saints uniform?

2. Cornerback

The Saints cornerbacks this season were super inconsistent and an upgrade would be quite helpful. Janoris Jenkins only played a few weeks with the Saints and has said he wants to be back. If he is back next year with the squad, that means they failed during free agency and the draft.

If Drew Brees is back, and the team can upgrade a little at cornerback, it could be a special season next year in the Big Easy.

1. Quarterback…Maybe?

The quarterback position isn't an area of need right now, but it could very quickly turn into one depending on what their quarterbacks decide to do. All three quarterbacks, Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, Taysom Hill are unrestricted free agents and there is a chance none of them are back.

Signs still point towards Drew Brees coming back to be the starting quarterback next season. If Brees does decide to hang it up, the expectation is Teddy Bridgewater would become the starting quarterback. But what happens if Brees hangs it up, and Bridgewater decides he wants to go be the starting quarterback next year?

If that happened the Saints would be left scrambling. Would the team will be willing to have Hill be a full-time quarterback or would they look somewhere else?

Even if Brees comes back, the team needs a plan in place for what to do when he is gone.