Sean Payton Acknowledged The One Undeniable Positive About The Saints Defense: It Can't Possibly Get Worse

Payton said he expects the defense to be better this year because it's hard not to be considering the past two seasons.

— Larry Holder (@LarryHolder) August 1, 2016

​Touché Sean, touché. Talk about putting a voice to the collective feelings of the fanbase. Just summed up the every reason to be optimistic about the defense in one single sentence. Even though I will do it anyway, I much prefer that to going through every position group and trying to identify ways in which they have upgraded. 

Sure, the linebacking corps are healthy and finally have a savvy veteran leader making the pre-snap reads. It's definitely reassuring that the secondary has multiplied in depth, has the added bonus of the subtraction of Brandon Browner, and is home to a certifiable star in the making by the name of Delvin Breaux. The defensive line is still heavily reliant on Cam Jordan and it's improvement is dependent upon a host of draft picks that will undoubtedly be overhyped throughout training camp, but the logic behind their promise is the same logic behind the promise of the defense as a whole - it can't possibly get any worse. I can't say whether or not the pass rush will improve, but I know for damn sure they won't get less pressure. I don't know if they'll create more turnovers on the backend, but I do know they can't possibly give up more touchdowns. I feel like I am looking at a brand new studio apartment that's ripe with possibilities because there's probably not a defense in NFL history that has had this much room for improvement. Whether they capitalize on it or not remains to be seen, but I think I agree with Sean Payton when he indirectly implies that the one benefit of reaching rock bottom is the potential for seemingly endless upward mobility.