Sunday's result in Carolina made it seven straight losses after an exciting and ultimately misleading 2-0 start. Injuries have been a factor in this skid, but falling to this version of the Panthers in Derek Carr's return to the lineup is just about as bad as it gets. The worst part - there's no way out.
Some truly reckless salary-cap management dating back to the Sean Payton era has put this organization in an unfathomable position when it comes to roster building. New Orleans is already $61 million over the projected salary cap for next season, according to Over The Cap.
It's become something of a yearly tradition for the Saints. You'll hear people claim the salary cap isn't real, suggesting that teams move money around to get under the cap all the time. But long-term negligence eventually catches up to you, and that's what the Saints are experiencing right now.
Contractual obligations have been pushed to the future so regularly that cutting big-name players doesn't even create salary-cap space at this point. The only way for the Saints to get under the cap, which is a must before the start of every new league year, is to restructure contracts and push even more money to the future. That means doubling and tripling down on commitments to players you may not even want around.
It's going to take several years for this organization to clean up the mess it created for itself. So, while you can certainly call for personnel changes, like the seemingly inevitable firing of Dennis Allen, it's fair to wonder which top coaching candidate will sign up for this.
The Saints could be headed for a long spell in the basement.