The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) South Division. The NFL awarded the city of New Orleans the sixteenth franchise in the league on November 1, 1966, All Saints' Day, five months after the 89th United States Congress approved the merger of the NFL with the American Football League (AFL). In January 1967, the team was given the name "New Orleans Saints", and began playing in their first season in September of that year. Throughout the franchise's history, it has always been based in New Orleans. Home games were originally played at Tulane Stadium from 1967 to 1974. The team relocated its home games to its current stadium, the Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome from 1975 to 2011 and later Mercedes-Benz Superdome from 2011 to 2021), in 1975. The Saints were owned by oilman John W. Mecom Jr. from 1966 to 1985, when the team was sold to Tom Benson. He remained owner until his death in 2018, at which point primary ownership of the team passed to his wife Gayle Benson. She has since made arrangements with the NFL to sell the team and keep the Saints in New Orleans when she dies.
Over their 59 seasons in the NFL, the Saints have accumulated a record of 423 wins, 491 losses, and 5 ties, which is the tenth-worst all-time regular season record among active franchises. They have also made the playoffs fourteen times and have the ninth-worst playoff record with 10 wins and 13 losses. The Saints won their first and only Super Bowl championship in 2010 when the team defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV. In addition to their Super Bowl win, the Saints have won the NFC Championship once and a division title nine times, winning the NFC West twice (1991 and 2000) and the NFC South seven times (2006, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020). The team currently has eighteen winning seasons, seven 8–8 seasons, and thirty-three losing seasons. The Saints did not have their first winning season until , their twenty-first season in the league. That same season, the Saints made their first playoff appearance. During the team's worst season in 1980 (in terms of win-loss percentage), the fans began to wear paper bags over their heads to games and started to call the team the Aints".
Seasons
+ Legend Finish Final position in league, division, or conference Pct The team's winning percentage for the season Super Bowl champions * Conference champions ^ Division champions § Wild Card berth
+ New Orleans Saints record by seasonSeasonTeamLeagueConferenceDivisionRegular seasonPostseason resultsAwardsHead coachFinish1967NFLEasternCapitol4th31101968NFLEasternCentury3rd4911969NFLEasternCapitol3rd5901970NFLNFCWest4th2111 1971NFLNFCWest4th4821972NFLNFCWest4th21111973NFLNFCWest4th5901974NFLNFCWest3rd5901975NFLNFCWest4th2120 1976NFLNFCWest3rd41001977NFLNFCWest4th31101978NFLNFCWest3rd7901979NFLNFCWest2nd8801980NFLNFCWest4th1150 1981NFLNFCWest4th4120 ()1982NFLNFCNone9th4501983NFLNFCWest3rd8801984NFLNFCWest3rd7901985NFLNFCWest4th5110 1986NFLNFCWest4th7901987NFLNFCWest2nd§1230Lost Wild Card playoffs (Vikings) 10–44 ()1988NFLNFCWest3rd10601989NFLNFCWest3rd9701990NFLNFCWest2nd§880Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Bears) 6–161991NFLNFCWest^1st^1150Lost Wild Card playoffs (Falcons) 20–27 ()1992NFLNFCWest2nd§1240Lost Wild Card playoffs (Eagles) 20–361993NFLNFCWest2nd8801994NFLNFCWest2nd7901995NFLNFCWest5th7901996NFLNFCWest5th3130 1997NFLNFCWest3rd61001998NFLNFCWest3rd61001999NFLNFCWest5th31302000NFLNFCWest^1st^1060Won Wild Card playoffs (Rams) 31–28Lost Divisional playoffs (at Vikings) 16–34 ()2001NFLNFCWest3rd7902002NFLNFCSouth3rd9702003NFLNFCSouth2nd8802004NFLNFCSouth2nd8802005NFLNFCSouth4th31302006NFLNFCSouth^1st^1060Won Divisional playoffs (Eagles) 27–24Lost NFC Championship (at Bears) 14–39 () ()20072007NFLNFCSouth3rd7902008NFLNFCSouth4th880 ()2009NFLNFC*South^1st^1330Won Divisional playoffs (Cardinals) 45–14Won NFC Championship (Vikings) 31–28 Won Super Bowl XLIV (1) (vs. Colts) 31–17 ()20102010NFLNFCSouth2nd§1150Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Seahawks) 36–412011NFLNFCSouth^1st^1330Won Wild Card playoffs (Lions) 45–28Lost Divisional playoffs (at 49ers) 32–36 ()2012NFLNFCSouth3rd790 2013NFLNFCSouth2nd§1150Won Wild Card playoffs (at Eagles) 26–24Lost Divisional playoffs (at Seahawks) 15–232014NFLNFCSouth2nd7902015NFLNFCSouth3rd7902016NFLNFCSouth3rd7902017NFLNFCSouth^1st^1150Won Wild Card playoffs (Panthers) 31–26Lost Divisional playoffs (at Vikings) 24–29 () ()2018NFLNFCSouth^1st^1330Won Divisional playoffs (Eagles) 20–14Lost NFC Championship (Rams) 23–26 2019NFLNFCSouth^1st^1330Lost Wild Card playoffs (Vikings) 20–26 ()2020NFLNFCSouth^1st^1240Won Wild Card playoffs (Bears) 21–9Lost Divisional playoffs (Buccaneers) 20–302021NFLNFCSouth2nd9802022NFLNFCSouth3rd71002023NFLNFCSouth2nd9802024NFLNFCSouth4th5120 2025NFLNFCSouth4th6110Totals 423 491 5 All-time regular season record (1967–2025) 10 13— All-time postseason record (1967–2025) 433 504 5 All-time regular & postseason record (1967–2025)
See also History of the New Orleans Saints List of New Orleans Saints first-round draft picks List of New Orleans Saints head coaches
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