It's always a big conversation, but is it important?
Strength of schedule is one of those major conversations that happens every offseason, and a lot of the time, it really does not matter. Teams can change everything in the offseason. Just look at the New England Patriots a year ago.
In the 2025 off-season, the Patriots were searching for a new HC, the roster was depleted, and they had the 4th overall pick. QB Drake Maye was coming off a good year, but the team's record was bad, which made teams that played the Patriots have a weaker 2025 schedule. New England then went on to have a 14-3 record and nearly win the Super Bowl.
Although this type of season is nowhere near the norm in football, it does shed light on people putting too much stock into the strength of schedule. It is absolutely fine to assess the team's current strength of schedule week to week, and it could even show that teams are really not as good as their record says, but saying a team has an "easy" schedule before the year can easily be proven untrue.
This is where the New Orleans Saints' schedule comes into play. As of now, before the season starts, the Saints have the second-easiest schedule in the NFL. This makes sense because they finished last in the division, which means the Saints get to play other fourth-place teams. But some of those teams are candidates to take that next step in 2026. The New York Giants just hired a former Super Bowl-winning coach and have a QB they are very excited about, and the Las Vegas Raiders have a new #1 QB pick and just hired a very smart HC in Klint Kubiak.
What also brings the Saints' strength of schedule down a bit is that the team resides in the NFC South. The entire division was a trainwreck last year, and although none of these teams are Super Bowl contenders, there is so much potential to take that next step, including the Saints. Also, New Orleans is opening against the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens, both of whom had down years in 2025 but are expected to be playoff contenders in 2026.
Strength of schedule can be a helpful tool at times, but, as with teams around the league last year, it can change very quickly. For the Saints, their schedule may be much harder than expected.