Are the Buccaneers REAL Super Bowl contenders? Saints’ roster flaws suggest the NFC South gap is growing

While Tampa Bay fans argue about whether the Buccaneers are legitimate Super Bowl contenders, the other side of the NFC South is dealing with a very different conversation. In New Orleans, the Saints aren’t debating championship ceilings — they’re staring down uncomfortable roster decisions that could define the franchise’s direction heading into 2026.

If you ask Who Dat Nation which players shouldn’t return next season, you’ll get a dozen answers and just as many heated debates. But when you strip away emotion and nostalgia, three names keep rising to the top: Cesar Ruiz, Dillon Radunz, and Kai Kroeger. All three played key roles in areas that quietly sabotaged the Saints throughout the 2025 season.

The biggest red flag was the interior offensive line. New Orleans’ offense never found consistent rhythm, and that failure often started up front.

Cesar Ruiz: a first-rounder who never made the leap

Once again, Cesar Ruiz teased potential without delivering results. The former first-round pick wrapped up his sixth NFL season with a Pro Football Focus grade of 55.1, ranking 57th out of 81 eligible guards. That’s a sharp drop from his 2024 career-best grade of 67.6, which now looks more like an outlier than a turning point.

At this stage, Ruiz appears capped as a low-end starter or high-end backup — not what you want anchoring the offensive line of a team trying to compete. While he’s under contract through 2027, the Saints do have options. A pre-draft trade or even a summer deal could help recoup value, though a straight release would come with a painful dead-cap hit between $4.7 and $7.3 million.

Dillon Radunz: a one-year experiment gone wrong

Radunz arrived in New Orleans on a one-year prove-it deal and failed to prove much of anything. His 48.5 PFF grade ranked 75th among 81 guards, somehow trailing even Ruiz’s disappointing campaign. The Saints’ running game suffered badly, finishing 28th in the league, and Radunz was a major reason why.

Re-signing him would signal acceptance of mediocrity — something the Saints can’t afford in an NFC South that’s becoming more competitive.

Kai Kroeger: punting problems persist

The Saints hoped Kai Kroeger would stabilize a long-troubled punting unit. Instead, he ranked 30th out of 32 punters in net punt average at just 37.3 yards. That kind of field-position disadvantage adds up fast.

Moving on would be painless financially, saving the Saints over $1 million in cap space. At minimum, serious competition is needed.

While Tampa Bay eyes a deep playoff run, New Orleans faces a harsher reality: until roster mistakes like these are corrected, the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl talk may sound a lot more realistic than anything coming out of the Big Easy.