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Sadly, NASA has a history of both making hyped up claims, presumably to keep funding coming in, (because some of their claims come during the times congress is looking at their budget), and having to walk back their hyped up claims later on when other scientists refute their work.

Whatever they are claiming, it needs to be verified by outsiders before people just accept it. And even if it is verified, it needs to be put into context.

"the SAM instrument is designed to detect organic molecules on Mars, so the smart money is on an announcement along those lines."

Okay, I Googled organic molecules to see if I could identify one that might really excite a NASA scientist. Obviously, it would have to be one that is associated with living organisms, and not just any old compound that happened to contain carbon.

Maybe I'm wrong about that and maybe they would flip out if they found a carbon compound on the surface, but it sure would be an anticlimactic announcement for the rest of us. Besides, they already know carbon is there; for instance, carbon dioxide makes up most of the Martian atmosphere and does not have to originate with life. No, it has to have something to do with life, imho.

Organic molecules found in living organisms fall into one of four major categories: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. Astronomers long ago identified carbohydrates and proteins in interstellar clouds of gas and dust, so it seems that's not too likely to excite them if they also find them on Mars. OTOH, nucleic acids (DNA and RNA)seem almost too good of a discovery to be true as I think that would point directly to life on Mars. So... I'm guessing they've found some kind of fat molecule.