Saints training camp begins today. With new head coach Kellen Moore and the retirement of quarterback Derek Carr, it will be a fresh start in New Orleans, but GM Mickey Loomis says there’s always an opportunity to be successful.
“We’re trying to win every game. I don’t look at it as a rebuild even though you might say, you know, we’ve got a lot of developing positions of development, I should say. A lot of young players that you know, we want to develop and I’m excited about that,” Loomis said.
The talk of the preseason will be the battle for the starting quarterback spot which Loomis emphasized will be a three-way fight between returners Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler and second-round pick Tyler Shough. Moore says he’ll try to give each an equal opportunity to compete.
“The physical stuff is obviously relevant. You want to see that they have the physical tools, which I think all these guys do. They’ll knock that out of the park. I think as we go through this process, it’s really about the operation, the decision-making and the consistency,” Moore explained.
Moore and Loomis were both excited to see revamped offensive and defensive line units put on the pads for the first time. The Saints selected left tackle Kelvin Banks ninth overall and moved former first-round picks Taliese Fuaga to right tackle and Trevor Penning to left guard. Loomis is eager to see how the group shakes out.
“We’ve got some moving pieces there, but I think we believe that we’ve got a lot of talent there and this could be a really, really good offensive line and can be a strength of our team. How long that takes? You know, we’ll see,” Loomis said.
