Ticketholders save money without preseason games

Because of concerns over travel, there would be no preseason games played in 2020. Among the big winners are the New Orleans Saints.
    

The Saints, with one of the most established rosters in the league, are in little need of preseason games.
    

In 2019, quarterback Drew Brees took a total of eight snaps in the third preseason game.
    

I n the last two drafts, the Saints made a statement about how fixed their roster is: They drafted a total of nine players.

    

Preseason games are big for the final rung of the roster.
    

In 2007, a Saints rookie running back climbed that ladder with a sensational preseason. Undrafted from the University of Illinois, Pierre Thomas earned a lot more than a roster spot. Thomas played for the Saints from 2007 to 2014 and was later inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.
    

In 105 games, Thomas rushed for 3,745 yards, and scored four touchdowns in postseason games.
    

In the 2019 preseason, game No. 3, quarterback Taysom Hill may have convinced head coach Sean Payton that he was a future starter. In a 19-17 win in Los Angeles over the Chargers, Hill led a second-half comeback, completing 11-of-15 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns and rushed five times for 53 yards.

    

But, for the most part, preseason is still a phony take on reality.
    

In 2006, the Saints lost their final three exhibition games, including a 23-point loss to the Cowboys in Shreveport, and a 13-point loss to the Colts in Jackson, Mississippi.
    

There was nothing in the month of August that would portend the Saints winning five of their first six regular-season games and advancing to the NFC Championship Game that year.
    

The biggest winners with no preseason are the season ticket holders. In a 10-game season ticket package, season card holders are charged regular-season prices for a pair of preseason games.
    

In the 2019 preseason season finale, not one Saints starter played a down against the Miami Dolphins.
    

Next season, the NFL will likely move to a 17th regular-season game. Many do not like it, citing the physical abuse players already absorb in a 16-game regular season.
    

Only 52% of players voted to approve the agreement that contained a 17th regular-season game. Some fear it could one day lead to even more regular-season games.
    

But, in 2020, there may be another revelation. That is, the preseason is even more irrelevant than first thought.
    

Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO and can be reached at edaniels@clarionherald.org.