What makes a team attractive when it comes to free agency? If you were to ask New Orleans Saints executive vice president and general manager, Mickey Loomis, it all starts with the team culture, via the team's website.

“We pay attention to our locker room. I think the word of mouth for our club is pretty good right now. We certainly take pride in that,” said Loomis, who then went on to elaborate on why he puts so much emphasis on this aspect of recruiting.

“Recognize this; somebody on every team, when you're a player that's a free agent, you probably know someone on almost every team, whether you ran across them in college or at all-star games or in the league. So they have sources within each team to describe the circumstances, describe the locker room, the type of coaching that they're going to get.”

Loomis’ plan has produced good results so far. Since taking over as general manager in 2002, the Saints have bagged six NFC South titles punctuated by a Super Bowl victory in the 2009 season. 

“We've been fortunate enough to have a lot of wins over the last years and players want, I think more than anything else, they want to win. Obviously, they want to make a good living.” 

On top of winning in the field, the Saints have rewarded their players really well. According to Spotrac, the Saints rank fourth overall in team payroll

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JC Latham (Alabama), Chris Braswell (Alabama not Jaguars), Cornelieus Johnson (Michigan) in action behind a New Orleans Saints logo with a 2024 NFL Draft background.

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Preparation, of course, is vital before game day, and it is something that does not go unnoticed on Loomis’ radar.

“The facilities themselves, they're important. It's important to have first-class facilities, I think we have that. We pay attention to it, we try to add something every year. We may not have the newest and brightest and shiniest, but we have a great facility.”