The New Orleans Saints are penciled in to host the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 of the 2021 season on Sunday, Sept. 12. Their home and season opener could now be in jeopardy.
Hurricane Ida hit the state of Louisiana on Sunday, putting thousands without power and housing in the process. And though the Superdome wasn’t impacted structurally, Saints head coach Sean Payton is unclear if the city of New Orleans will be capable of hosting an NFL game in 13 games. More importantly, there are more pressing matters at the moment.
“We don’t know relative on Week One in the Superdome,” Payton said, via Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. “We’ll have a Plan B. There’s a lot of things from a priority standpoint that are more important to our city.”
It sounds like Saints-Packers will happen no matter what, barring a late change. But the game’s location is a mystery at the moment. A neutral site is plausible.
Payton on Week 1: “We don’t know relative on Week 1 in the Superdome. … We’ll have a Plan B. There’s a lot of things from a priority standpoint that are more important to our city.”
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) August 30, 2021
For those wondering if the NFL would move the game to Green Bay, Payton doesn’t expect that to happen.
Payton: “I don’t see that happening” on the Week 1 game being in Green Bay.
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) August 30, 2021
The Saints, meanwhile, are currently in Dallas. The team hired two commercial planes to bring whichever players and personnel who wanted to leave before Hurricane Ida for a safer area (Texas in this instance).
The Saints will continue to be in Dallas until it’s safe to return to New Orleans. The NFL, meanwhile, will explore relocation options for the Saints-Packers Week 1 showdown.
The post The Saints’ Week 1 Game Is Currently Up In The Air appeared first on The Spun.
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