The Offseason Plan Is Intact. The Players in It Are Not.

New Orleans spent the summer building an offense around two cornerstones. Chris Olave got a four-year extension worth up to $132 million. Alvin Kamara reworked his deal to return for a 10th season, with Travis Etienne Jr. signed alongside him to give the backfield real depth. The front office was betting on stability — a known receiver, a known back, a foundation to hand whoever lines up at quarterback. That was the plan in July. By mid-August, Kamara has a sprained MCL and won't be available for at least a month, Jordyn Tyson is out roughly two months with a hamstring injury, and the Saints are heading into Week 1 against Detroit without two of the offensive weapons the plan was built around.

What's left is Olave, who is healthy, and a backfield depth chart that now runs through Ty Chandler, Kendre Miller, and Audric Estime — the third of whom is listed as questionable. Etienne is there too, which matters, but the point of signing him was complementary work alongside Kamara, not to carry the load from snap one of the regular season. The offensive line has already lost Andrus Peat to retirement and Dillon Radunz to a torn ACL. Spencer Rattler is the quarterback.

The investment isn't wasted — Kamara should be back, Olave isn't going anywhere — but the return on it has been deferred to a part of the schedule the front office didn't plan around. What they built for Week 1 is not what will show up for Week 1.