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Drew Brees: Window of opportunity ‘very close’ for Saints

Drew Brees

The New Orleans Saints stumbled through a mistake-filled 2015 campaign, but quarterback Drew Brees thinks the team is trending in the right direction.

According to Joel A. Erickson of the New Orleans Advocate, Brees said he feels like the team’s window of opportunity is very close.

“We’ve been young and inexperienced in areas over the last couple of years. No excuse, I feel like we’ve been close, and yet it just hasn’t been enough. But we’ve continued to get better and continued to press forward, and I’m excited about the young talent we have, and more than that, I’m excited about the type of guys we have.”

For that to happen, however, the Saints must start closing the wide-open windows on the defensive side of the ball. The unit surrendered the most points and second-most yards per game last season.

New Orleans certainly has some hope there, since defensive end Cam Jordan and safety Kenny Vacarro are excellent pieces. Stephone Anthony is a promising young linebacker, while cornerbacks Keenan Lewis and Delvin Breaux are also under contract through the 2017 season.

The Saints must start building depth, though, because Jairus Byrd and Dannell Ellerbe are decent at best. Players like P.J. Williams and Hau’oli Kikaha need to develop quickly.

Otherwise, the franchise might essentially waste the final years of Brees’ career. New Orleans has plenty of young offensive talent in receivers Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead as well as offensive linemen Terron Armstead and Andrus Peat to clear lanes for running back Mark Ingram.

Brees helped the Saints finish the 2015 season ranked second-best in total offense and No. 8 in scoring, but a window for him to lead another championship run won’t open unless New Orleans upgrades its defense.

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