Without New Contract for Drew Brees, Saints Will Be Irrelevant in 2012

To say that the 2012 NFL offseason has been frustrating for the New Orleans Saints and their fans would not do justice to everything that has commenced since January.

First, there was the disappointing early exit in the postseason against San Francisco, bounty-gate and despite this being expected, quarterback Drew Brees remaining unsigned. In an article by Mike Triplett of the Times-Picayune, Brees and the Saints have been silent for a while:

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The chances of Drew Brees signing a long-term contract with the Saints before the first OTA practice May 22 are practically zero.

Nobody has picked up the phone for more than a month to resuscitate talks, and there's no indication either side will reach out in the near future.

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Considering the Saints' current situation heading into the summer and what's expected for the 2012 season, this is beyond unfortunate. 

With all that said, the Big Easy will be irrelevant this season without Brees. Here are some reasons why.

Improved Division

The NFC South wasn't an overly difficult division in 2011, but all that has changed for 2012.

Tampa Bay for one, actually was tough early last season beginning 4-2 and 2-0 in the division. However, after 10 straight losses, the Buccaneers made some modifications and are now back on the upswing.

Rookies Mark Barron, Keith Tandy, Leonard Johnson and Lavonte David have spruced up coach Greg Schiano's defense, which will be more aggressive and defend much better against the pass. Offensively, the Bucs have Vincent Jackson out wide and Carl Nicks to pave running lanes for Doug Martin.

Elsewhere in the division we see veterans Asante Samuel and Lofa Tatupu in Atlanta's improved defense while their offense remains impressively balanced. The Falcons are currently the NFC South's most complete team.

Carolina still has some holes on defense, but rookie linebacker Luke Kuechly is a great complement to a healthy Jon Beason and Charles Johnson in the front seven. We know the Panthers will be high-powered on offense, so the question is how fast the Cats' defense will turnaround.

Nonetheless, without Brees, the Saints won't have a chance to win the NFC South, as it's arguably the most improved division from top to bottom.

Non-Explosive Offense

Regardless of how tough the NFC South has become, New Orleans is predicated off being an extremely explosive offense, which obviously is why the Saints have had so much recent success.

Brees absent from under center however, makes the Big Easy the opposite of explosive. The Saints won't be able to outlast the slower-paced teams. With Brees at the helm, New Orleans could outscore anyone at any time and make a big comeback late if needed.

Missing him though, allows more balanced teams like Kansas City, Denver, Philadelphia and San Francisco to match pace. Each of those offenses build from a run-oriented scheme and set up well off play-action.

Also, each presents a sound defense to slow the game tempo and get quarterback pressure. Brees' ability to make pre-snap reads, audible, call out blitzes and adjust on the fly mid-game is what gave the Saints a distinct advantage.

Now it seems that New Orleans will have to rely more on the ground to get defenses off balance. Unfortunately, the Saints don't present an elite No. 1 ball-carrier and only had success on the ground because of a highly efficient passing game.

Defenses will simply attack the Saints much more and force them into being one-dimensional early on.

NFC Fire-Powers

The upside with Brees under center is he does provide New Orleans with an increased opportunity at making a deep playoff run. Thing is, that's also not guaranteed, especially heading into the 2012 season and considering how susceptible the Saints' defense was against the pass.

On their 2012 schedule we've already seen that New Orleans has to play Philadelphia and San Francisco. Well, other rough NFC opponents include the Packers, Giants and Cowboys outside of the division.

The NFC in general is becoming a conference loaded with supreme talent and has won four of the previous five Super Bowls. Brees wasn't helped much by the defense and New Orleans solely relied on him to bring success—and rightfully so, because he delivered each year.

2012 without Brees simply provides an opportunity for a team like Atlanta, Chicago or Arizona to make a miracle run as the Saints take more than a few steps back.

New Orleans also doesn't present as threatening of a receiving corps (although rookie Nick Toon has great potential) and with Brees the Saints would have trouble matching their NFC brethren each possession.

Brees taking snaps provides the Saints with a realistic playoff shot, but if the offseason continues like it has for New Orleans, 2012 will be a disastrous year to forget.

John Rozum on Twitter.