The weight of this offseason has finally set in.
The core roster remains intact, the same core that helped this team go 8-1 over the last two seasons with backup quarterbacks starting. That counts for something. So, too, do the players who are no longer on the roster.
New Orleans did not suffer through the bloodletting many were expecting when people shared their ghastly initial cap number on social media. The key players are still here. Gone are two talented starters in their 30s, an incredibly gifted linebacker with a torn Achilles, and some good depth pieces.
The sum of those parts hurts. Even though most of these moves were predicted and expected, seeing those things happen and the holes left behind carries a little more weight. It's one thing to speak about the abstract possibility of cutting a player like Janoris Jenkins. Seeing the hole on the depth chart makes it real.
