The New Orleans Saints' 2023 season amounts to a disappointment after preseason projections had them winning the division, which they lost on a tiebreaker to the Buccaneers. But a top-10 scoring offense and defense suggests they probably should've had a better record, and they closed the season with double-digit wins in four of their last five games. Despite that late-year run, expectations have been significantly lowered for the 2024 Saints, with their win total down to 7.5.

Most of the Saints' struggles came against teams that finished with winning records, and they're again projected to have one of the easiest strength of schedules in the league this year, with games against the NFC East and AFC West alongside tough matchups that result from finishing second in the division (Rams, Packers, Browns). Once you get past those teams as well as the Chiefs, Eagles and Cowboys -- a slate of six opponents that should feature at least one or two wins -- the rest of the schedule is against teams that could all end up under .500 or just over.

While the Saints made some interesting additions on defense and at offensive coordinator, their success may come down to the performance of an offensive line that has taken a step back in recent years. Ryan Ramcyzk's status is in question, and first-round pick Taliese Fuaga can't play both tackle positions at the same time. Combined with the market's likely skepticism around Derek Carr playing at a high level, the offense seems likely to be responsible for the drop in New Orleans' projection this year.

Below, we'll go through the futures and win total markets for the 2024 New Orleans Saints, sharing recently updated odds from major U.S. and Nevada sportsbooks as well as the SportsLine Projection Model forecast for each betting market. We'll then take a look through the schedule, share my power ratings line projections for every game and note any rest or travel advantages or disadvantages to remember. Then we'll examine the changes to the depth chart and what the effect of each could be, before wrapping up with our early forecast of what to expect from this team in 2024.

What are the key factors to consider before locking in New Orleans Saints futures bets? And how does the SportsLine Projection Model see the season going? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Saints betting strategy from the expert who's 636-534-34 on ATS picks from 2017-23, returning $4,899 to $100 players!