Saints' impulsive moves risk them returning to being the 'Aints

The high-flying, yard-producing, NFC-South competing New Orleans Saints of the past decade do not accurately paint the picture of the Saints' franchise history.

Following their birth as an NFL club in 1967, it took the team 21 seasons to make their first playoff appearance in 1987, and another 14 to get their first playoff win. Prior to 2006, the black and gold won just two division titles and finished with a winning record seven times in 39 seasons, earning the nickname "The 'Aints."

In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, the Saints landed a pair of saviors in head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees.

Both men have made magic throughout their tenure together. The Saints won a division title in their first season together, and three seasons later won their first Super Bowl.

The biggest reason they work so well together is their combined willingness to take risks and an eagerness to pass the ball early and often. Brees has put up five of the 10 best single-season passing yardage performances in NFL history and led the league in passing six of the past 10 seasons.

Since their Super Bowl victory in 2009, the Saints have slowly been regressing and if they don't start to think about long-term success, they risk returning to the days of the 'Aints.

General manager Mickey Loomis has been in a salary cap mess nearly every offseason since winning the big game. That's rather expected though; it's only natural that players feel they deserve to be paid more once they've contributed to a championship team.

The issue that the Saints have found is now that they've tasted the sweet victory of the Vince Lombardi trophy, they want more.

Despite their salary cap situation screaming "re-build" year in and year out, Loomis continues to make impulse decisions for a shot at another Super Bowl.

In 2014, the Saints made free safety Jairus Byrd the second-highest paid player on their team after letting the Pro Bowl safety duo of Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins walk away. Byrd was considered a top free agent on the market that offseason, but has not been productive since joining the Saints.

Jenkins and Harper, however, have both been better off. Jenkins has enjoyed two stellar seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, making his first Pro Bowl in 2015, while Harper was a starting member of the 15-1 Carolina Panthers team. On top of that, their combined salary in 2015 was about $3.4 million less than what Byrd's cap hit will be next season.

Late in the 2014 offseason, the Saints gave All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham a four-year contract worth over $40 million after Graham appeared to be upset with the franchise tag. About eight months later, Loomis realized he couldn't possibly pay his hybrid tight end that kind of money and traded Graham to the Seattle Seahawks for a below ideal return.

The Saints came into the 2016 offseason with the least amount of cap space among all NFL clubs, but still decided to fill the hole Graham left a year earlier by giving a five-year contract to Coby Fleener. Brees will definitely benefit from having a legitimate receiving threat like Fleener, even though he was still able to lead the league in passing last season without Graham. Fleener is a fine player, but may not be the most sensible investment for a team with limited spending room, struggling to stop anybody and everybody on defense.

Brees has always made his receivers better, proving true with tight end Ben Watson having his career best season last year at age 35 and finishing as the Saints second-leading receiver.

Related: Saints sign Coby Fleener to 5-year deal reportedly worth about $36M

When Josh Norman surprisingly became available in April, it was assumed that teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers, with plenty of cash to spend, would be the favorites, but it was the Saints who were among the reported contenders. Payton even admitted to asking Brees to restructure his contract so that the Saints could get Norman under the cap.

That's a move made by a team who thinks they are one piece away from a championship. The Saints gave up the most points in the NFL last season and made their biggest defensive additions through the draft; that's a lot more than one piece away.

New Orleans has gone 7-9 in three of the past four seasons and just handed Payton a five-year extension, while trying to negotiate another one for the 37-year-old Brees.

Payton, Loomis, and the rest of Saints organization enter every training camp with a Super Bowl on their mind and this season really isn't expected to be any different, despite no real changes from the past two years missing the playoffs.

With the emergence of the Panthers and Cam Newton last season, and the young talent brewing in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, the Saints have put all their eggs in one basket with Brees and Payton and want to win now.

Despite rumors from fans in New Orleans, Brees is not a super human and Father Time will still catch up. Brees has covered up so many holes for the Saints over the years with his determination, leadership, and skills as a passer, but he's done his team somewhat of a disservice as they now depend on him to make up for mistakes.

Some fans will say that winning one Super Bowl was worth whatever salary issues the team has faced. But if it means another 21 years of losing when Brees' time inevitably comes to an end, the New Orleans faithful will be singing a different tune when the Saints coming marching in to the Superdome.