Category: Mickey Loomis

Mickey Loomis reflects on emotional journey that brought Foster Moreau to the Saints

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis reflected on the emotional journey that brought Foster Moreau back to New Orleans:

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The New Orleans Saints energized a lot of fans by signing tight end Foster Moreau as a free agent, and it’s easy to see why: he might be the best comeback story in the NFL after receiving a life-changing diagnosis for Hodgkin’s lymphoma during a routine physical with the team back in March.

Two months later, though, Moreau has undergone treatment and received clearance to get back on the field and continue his career. General manager Mickey Loomis acknowledged the high-strung emotions of the situation while speaking with local media at the Saints Hall of Fame golf tournament on Monday, but he was careful to remind everyone that there’s real value to the team in signing Moreau.

“First of all, we brought him in because he’s a good player,” Loomis cautioned, noting that isn’t just a feel-good story about bringing a player back to his hometown. “Versatile, well-rounded tight end. The fact that he’s from New Orleans, and has a history at LSU and here (at Jesuit High School), really had nothing to do with our interest in him.”

Moreau developed into a favorite target of Derek Carr’s when they were together on the Las Vegas Raiders, consistently winning on contested-catch opportunities and fighting for yards after the catch. He can block well, too, and he should add some elements to the Saints offense that they’ve been missing.

Still, at the end of the day this is an important chapter in someone’s life, and Loomis admitted as much. He’s as happy as anyone to see things turn for the better for Moreau so that he could get where he is now.

Loomis continued, “That’s emotional. To come take a physical and discover something that’s is unexpected, I know that’s tough on him and his family. And yet they’ve handled it beautifully. The great news is that the prognosis is good, and even the treatment protocol that he’s going to be under is going to allow him to do some things this offseason and hopefully play in the fall.”

So could Moreau be on the field when the Saints regroup for organized team activities later this month? Maybe so, but his doctors could advise him to take it slow and make sure his body has fully recovered from rigorous cancer treatment before putting himself under physical stress so soon. The Saints aren’t going to rush him into the first phase of drills with his new teammates, but they aren’t going to put any limitations on him, either.

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Mickey Loomis says everything’s going as planned while Michael Thomas recovers from injury

Mickey Loomis says everything’s going as planned while Michael Thomas recovers from injury, adds WR ‘absolutely’ can return to form:

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What’s the latest on Michael Thomas? The New Orleans Saints’ former superstar wide receiver has lost years of the prime of his career to injuries, gutting through a complicated ankle issue that slowed him down in 2020 and sidelined him for the entire 2021 season before a broken bone in his other foot cut his 2022 campaign short.

But the Saints are optimistic that Thomas can return to form. General manager Mickey Loomis said as much Monday morning at the Saints Hall of Fame golf tournament, “Absolutely he can be. Just need to get him healthy, and he’s worked so hard at that over the last two or three years. The results haven’t been as good as we have all hoped, but it’s not because of a lack of effort or desire by him, that’s for sure.”

So when will he be back on the field? The Saints are taking it easy with several players managing health issues this offseason, including rookie running back Kendre Miller (coming off a knee injury) and tight end Foster Moreau (recovering from cancer treatment), and they aren’t going to rush Thomas into action before he’s physically ready.

Loomis echoed comments that head coach Dennis Allen made last week in the wake of news that Thomas recently had some surgical “hardware” removed from his foot, saying that the Saints expect Thomas to be ready to go for training camp in July: “Yeah I think everything’s (going) according to plan so far, and I feel very positive about it.”

At least they have a better backup plan this year in case Thomas does miss more time. They signed a veteran contested-catch receiver who’s used to working with Derek Carr in Bryan Edwards. They drafted a highly-regarded rookie who played a similar role in A.T. Perry. Another first-year pro, undrafted free agent Shaquan Davis, also has impressive potential. Signing former Pittsburgh Steelers standout James Washington would add another layer of depth, but we’ll have to wait and see whether a deal materializes.

Hopefully Thomas will continue to progress as expected and return to full participation in training camp and beyond. But if there’s another hurdle or challenge ahead, the Saints won’t be caught unprepared.

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Saints GM Mickey Loomis says ‘I don’t lie, I just withhold things’ previewing 2023 draft

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says ‘I don’t lie, I just withhold things’ while previewing the 2023 NFL draft:

There aren’t many general managers who have traded during the NFL draft as Mickey Loomis, and the New Orleans Saints’ chief decision-maker has a habit of keeping his cards to his vest. But he wants it known that he’s always honest, even if he keeps most of the truth to himself.

“I don’t lie, I just, maybe, withhold things,” Loomis grinned during his pre-draft interview with WWL Radio. “So I’m not going to tell you something that’s outright wrong, let me just say, ‘I’m not going to answer that’ or I may give you a long answer and not answer the question.”

Loomis understands that fans and media want all the information they can get their hands on — it’s just important to keep a lid on some things, especially in the critical final hours leading up to the draft. Negotiations and conversations with other teams are ongoing, and it could hurt the team to tip his hand one way or another.

Still, Loomis shared a lot of insight to various topics surrounding the team during his pre-draft press conference on Wednesday. And it wasn’t just limited to the draft. He hit on the contract situation with right guard Cesar Ruiz and the legal concerns with running back Alvin Kamara, which we broke down in our takeaways from that media availability session. We’ll have a better idea of how much of the truth Loomis is sharing once the Saints make their move on Thursday night.

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7 takeaways from Mickey Loomis’s pre-draft Saints press conference

7 takeaways from Mickey Loomis’s pre-draft New Orleans Saints press conference; notes on draft-day priorities, scouting process, Alvin Kamara and Cesar Ruiz

It’s the eve of the 2023 NFL draft, and New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis shared some insight for fans to consider in the final hours leading up to the annual selection event at his pre-draft press conference (you can watch the full thing here), though as always he keeping his most important cards close to his vest. Here are seven takeaways from his conversation with local media on Wednesday:

NFL general manager power rankings put Saints’ Mickey Loomis at No. 14

The latest NFL general manager power rankings put New Orleans Saints shot-caller Mickey Loomis at No. 14. It’s a tough spot for the longest-tenured GM in the game:

Anyone can write up their take on the NFL power rankings, but there aren’t many analysts who can offer an informed take on the general manager power rankings. That’s where NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal comes in. Rosenthal listed every GM in the league, and it’s kind of a tough look for Mickey Loomis. The New Orleans Saints’ shot-caller is the longest-tenured general manager in the sport, and Rosenthal put him all the way down at No. 14.

But the issue is results, not the process that led the Saints where they are now. Rosenthal gave them credit for some unconventional team-building strategies, but he took care to highlight the misses as much as the hits. Here’s what he had to say of Loomis going into 2023:

The Saints entered the offseason more over the cap than any team, then proceeded to spend more money in free agency than nearly anyone else, including the acquisition of Derek Carr. And they still have plenty of cap space! I give the Saints front office credit for creatively working around the cap, using the cash Gayle Benson is willing to spend. The process isn’t necessarily flawed, but the execution is. Loomis hired Dennis Allen and has stuck by him. The staff kept after Sean Payton feels stale compared with the one ex-Saints player/coach Dan Campbell put together in Detroit. Continuing to spend big on a defense in decline feels short-sighted.

The trade of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was a total misfire, and the Saints’ decision to let Marcus Williams walk while signing Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye ultimately hurt. Recent drafts have major hits (Chris Olave, Alontae Taylor, Pete Werner) and some potential misses (Payton Turner, Cesar Ruiz, Trevor Penning). This is a franchise that feels a bit all over the place since the final days of Sean Payton’s tenure, with everyone trying to keep the paychecks going. It’s all added up to a team stuck in the middle, but damned if New Orleans doesn’t make the NFL more interesting.

Yeah, that’s tough to argue with. The Saints have pioneered creative salary cap accounting strategies that have become common around the NFL, using that approach as a means to max out their resources each year. It’s helped them build some outstanding football teams. But some spotty decision-making in which players to invest in didn’t quite work as planned, and the Saints have, at times, been too aggressive and shortsighted for their own good on draft day.

Much of that responsibility falls on Loomis. He’s held the job for 20 years and his tendencies are well-known around the league. He’s brought the Saints a Super Bowl championship and multiple Hall of Fame players, and negotiated the difficult divorce with a Hall of Fame coach. He’s also struck out on some high-profile draft picks and pricey free agent signings. It is what it is, and that’s what earned him the spot at No. 14 among his peers.

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Since 2011, no GM has lost more draft pick value in trades than Saints’ Mickey Loomis

No NFL general manager has lost more draft pick value in trades than Mickey Loomis, whose always-aggressive approach has cost the Saints from time to time:

Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes he gets you. And when you trade up as often as the New Orleans Saints have under Mickey Loomis, you tend to pay a higher price than you’d like. The latest illustration of this comes from Pro Football Focus analyst Arjun Menon, who created a graph showing the net trade value gained or lost by every active NFL general manager dating back to 2011 (when a new collective bargaining agreement introduced the modern rookie wage scale, dramatically shifting how draft picks are valued).

And no general manager has lost more value for his team than Loomis — who, to be fair, shares a lot of blame with former Saints head coach Sean Payton for the aggressive draft strategy. New Orleans has traded away future picks to move up in the current draft more frequently than many other teams around the league. Look at their history:

  • 2022: Traded a 2023 first-round pick to get another selection in the first round (spent on LT Trevor Penning)
  • 2020: Traded a 2021 third-round pick to move up for LB Zack Baun in the third round
  • 2020: Traded a 2021 sixth-round pick to land TE Tommy Stevens in the seventh round
  • 2019: Traded a 2020 second-round pick to move up for C Erik McCoy in the second round
  • 2018: Traded a 2019 first-round pick to move up for DE Marcus Davenport in the first round
  • 2017: Traded a 2018 second-round pick to land RB Alvin Kamara in the third round
  • 2016: Traded a 2017 fifth-round pick to move up for DT David Onyemata in the fourth round
  • 2015: Traded a 2016 sixth-round pick to move up for CB Damian Swann in the fifth round
  • 2011: Traded a 2012 first-round pick to land RB Mark Ingram in the first round

If you’re keeping track, that’s a total of six picks in the first, second, and third rounds traded to move up and get Ingram, Kamara, Davenport, McCoy, Baun and Penning. And we aren’t even counting the many trades that only included packaging up late-round picks in the current draft, only future assets. It’s early for Penning, but of that group you could only say it was worth it with certainty for Ingram, Kamara and McCoy.

Why trade up so often? The Saints work with a smaller big board of draft prospects than most other teams, viewing the pre-draft process as a series of disqualifications to limit their options to players who best fit what they’re looking for. Many teams often have 120 to 150 draftable grades on their board. New Orleans usually has 75 to 90. So when a player they value is just outside of reach, they’re comfortable making a move to go get them. At the same time, they don’t see as much value in trading down; Loomis hasn’t moved back in the draft since 2007.

The Saints have a strategy that is tough to beat when it works. But their eagerness to trade up can get them burned, especially when the players they covet don’t meet expectations. Trading up so often has a cost that’s paid in the later rounds, when teams need to get depth players. When the Saints miss on a player like Davenport after trading up, and lose key contributors in free agency, it’s really difficult to field a competitive roster. Hopefully they’ll learn from that and tweak the strategy.

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Mickey Loomis says Saints have no reservations in keeping Dennis Allen as head coach

Dennis Allen’s team underperformed in 2022. Mickey Loomis admits there’s room to improve, but says the Saints have no ‘reservations about our choice as head coach’

It’s really hard to believe that the New Orleans Saints are happy with Dennis Allen’s performance as head coach. After gambling on him to improve on his 8-28 record as the Raiders head coach from a decade ago, they struggled to keep their heads above water in the 2022 season. It was a gut check for a team that talked itself up as a Super Bowl contender all summer only to collapse in the fall.

But Saints general manager Mickey Loomis urged patience with Allen, who has the seventh-worst record in NFL history among head coaches with 50 or more games. Loomis reflected on Allen’s experience as New Orleans’ head coach during a question-and-answer session at the NFL Scouting Combine this week.

“Look, I think there were some really good things,” Loomis told SI.com’s John Hendrix of Allen’s 7-10 record as Saints head coach, giving him a mulligan for some unforeseen challenges.

He continued: “There’s things that were out of our control, his control, primarily the injuries. So, there were some really good things and some things that we’ve talked about that we collectively have to do better.”

“But we don’t have any reservations about our choice as head coach,” Loomis added.

Injuries were a major problem last year. The Saints never had fewer than eight players on the injury report each week and often went into the double digits. Star talents like quarterback Jameis Winston, wide receiver Michael Thomas and cornerback Marshon Lattimore missed much of the season because of injuries.

At the end of the day, plans went sideways, and Allen wasn’t able to compensate for it. Hopefully he’s learned from this experience and can improve in 2023. If the Saints are still struggling to put points on the board and kicking the ball away a little too quickly, he won’t get many more free passes.

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Mickey Loomis doesn’t regret 2022 draft trade, remains high on Chris Olave and Trevor Penning

Mickey Loomis doesn’t regret the Saints’ 2022 draft trade. With their rookie year behind them, he remains high on both Chris Olave and Trevor Penning:

Look, the New Orleans Saints didn’t quite see this one coming. When they agreed to trade their 2023 first round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles, they had no expectation that it might end up being the tenth overall selection after a hard-to-watch season. They expected to be in the thick of the playoffs and playing meaningful football in January, not reflecting back on a lost season.

But Saints general manager Mickey Loomis wants it known that he doesn’t regret the decision to send that pick off as part of a blockbuster trade. He pushed back on the narrative that the Saints don’t have a first rounder during his end-of-season press conference; he views wide receiver Chris Olave and left tackle Trevor Penning through the same lens as he’d evaluate a draft prospect taken with this year’s first-round pick, considering New Orleans wouldn’t have gotten either of them without making that deal with Philadelphia.

“It’s a little misleading, I think, to say we don’t have a number one (draft pick in 2023). We traded that and we had two number ones this year (in 2022). I’m really happy with those two guys,” Loomis said Friday, “Not happy that Trevor was injured and that slowed his progress, but I think we’re really excited about Trevor and Chris as being part of our team. … I liked what we did, I liked the players we ended up with in this last draft, and today I wouldn’t change that.”

Loomis has used this logic in the past, turning to it to justify the decision to trade up for Marcus Davenport back in the 2018 draft or in selling a future pick so the team could get another selection to add Alvin Kamara in 2017. And it does make sense to a degree. But as Loomis conceded, it helps that arithmetic smooth out when players are on the field and improving.

While Olave was one of the most explosive rookies of the 2022 season across the league, Penning’s first year as a pro began and ended with (thankfully unrelated) foot injuries. A preseason turf toe injury required surgery, and a Lisfranc fracture in the season finale will keep him out of action through summer workouts. When the Saints did have Penning on the field, he performed about as expected: thrillingly physical as a run blocker; at times too aggressive for his own good, leading to penalties; and inconsistent in pass protection. More reps are critical to easing his learning curve, so it’s a good thing he’s expected to be ready for training camp at the end of July.

As for whether the Saints made that Eagles trade banking on Sean Payton returning to coach in the NFL in 2023, bringing a first rounder back to New Orleans after sending off his coaching rights?

“No, I never counted on getting anything for Sean. He might decide to do the media deal for five years. Who knows? So that’s not something,” Loomis paused to consider his words, “I know I have a history of spending cap going forward, but we weren’t spending draft capital going forward anticipating what we might get if he’d decide to coach again.”

Obviously the Saints would rather he get back in the saddle sooner than later and help them reload with draft assets, but Loomis acknowledged that it’s no sure thing Payton accepts one of the jobs being offered to him. That process will play out in the days and weeks ahead. Whether the Saints ultimately benefit from it remains to be seen.

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Mickey Loomis says Saints won’t allow lateral moves to Sean Payton’s next staff

Mickey Loomis says the Saints won’t allow lateral moves to Sean Payton’s next staff, though they won’t block promotions for their assistants:

One worry of Sean Payton taking over a new team is how many important pieces of the New Orleans Saints’ operation he might take with him. Whether that’s assistant coaches or personnel executives in the front office, there are plenty of people in the organization who Payton would probably like to take with him.

But don’t expect the Saints to make that easy for him. General manager Mickey Loomis addressed the topic during his end-of-season press conference on Friday in response to a question from NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, saying that lateral moves are off the table.

“Well our guys are under contract, so the only guys who could actually move without our permission are guys who are being promoted into coordinator positions. It’s not really a real ‘need’ (to address that). I’m sure if there was somebody they really wanted he would call and ask, and we would probably say no,” Loomis grinned.

That was the case a few years ago when longtime front office executive Terry Fontenot left for the Atlanta Falcons GM opening, and he tried to bring football administration vice president Khai Harley with him. The Saints wouldn’t allow that, and Harley has continued to play a big part in their day-to-day operations while crafting creative salary cap strategies.

So they wouldn’t, for example, let Harley or college scouting director and assistant GM Jeff Ireland leave to join Payton in that same capacity. He would have to be promoted to general manager for Payton’s new squad in order to get out of his contract with New Orleans. That’s significant given two of the three teams interviewing Payton soon already have their general managers working in the building (the Denver Broncos’ George Paton and the Houston Texans’ Nick Caserio). The only place he could offer a front office executive a promotion is the Arizona Cardinals.

Things are a little trickier for assistant coaches. If they have an opportunity to advance their career in a bigger role on Payton’s staff, Loomis says the Saints won’t stand in their way. He conceded, “I think that is, those guys would have the right to move to a coordinator position, if it’s a play caller position.”

So if an assistant on the rise in New Orleans like passing game coordinator Ronald Curry was offered the offensive coordinator job with Payton’s new team, he wouldn’t face much resistance in taking Payton up on that offer. Of course the Saints could circumvent this by naming Curry their own play caller on offense, but at this point they haven’t even tweaked their own coaching staff. Loomis added that those evaluations and considerations will begin next week. That’s the same time Payton will begin interviewing with other teams, so this new information from Loomis might soon become very pertinent.

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Mickey Loomis not rushing Saints coach changes, offseason strategy

The Saints just had their worst season in decades, but GM Mickey Loomis isn’t in a rush to start making changes or develop an offseason strategy:

Don’t look for any immediate changes from the New Orleans Saints after their worst season in almost 20 years. General manager and executive vice president Mickey Loomis isn’t in a rush to evaluate his team and consider staff changes. When asked about his plans for the offseason, Loomis says he doesn’t have a plan yet.

“Yeah I think, well, first of all,” Loomis said during his weekly WWL radio spot with Mike Hoss, gathering his thoughts, “I would like to take a little bit of a break here and let the emotions of this season dissipate, so we can view it from a lens that is a step back. We’ll kind of step back this week and then get into those evaluations that you’re talking about next week, and eventually formulate our plans for this offseason.”

Sure, there’s something to be said for a patient approach. Decisions made in the heat of the moment can come back to bite you. And many job candidates  on playoff teams aren’t even able to interview for open positions for another week or two, much less be hired and introduced. But sitting on your hands in these circumstances doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. It’s clear that, for example, massive overhaul is needed for the Saints offense — they just scored their fewest points in a single season (330) since 1995, and that’s with the benefits of a 17-game schedule. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. was a bust in his turn as a play caller.

So it’s really discouraging to see Loomis kicking his feet up for a week after a lost season that he built. He took the bait when the Eagles came calling about an ill-advised 2022 draft trade, giving up a 2023 first round pick that’s slotted at 10th overall in exchange for Trevor Penning, a player whose rookie season began and ended with foot injuries. He botched the search for Sean Payton’s successor at head coach and hitched their fortunes to a couple of washouts at quarterback. Now they’re back where they started with fewer means of cleaning up this mess.

And it doesn’t sound like any accountability is coming. When asked who will evaluate his performance as general manager, Loomis replied: “I don’t know, Mrs. Benson, I guess? That’s happening constantly, during the course of the year I’m visiting with Mrs. Benson daily, so that really happens every day during the entire season, the entire year, really. It’s not a formal sit-down-and-give-you-a-review that you might have with some other companies, so it’s really a little different.”

We shouldn’t anticipate any big changes on top of the organization. Loomis is the league’s longest-tenured general manager and Benson has spoken often about how integral he has been to the team’s success. But it’s really difficult to not read this situation as, well, sort of aimless. There’s no sense of urgency being expressed after a season that was filled with secondhand embarrassment. Hopefully the Saints show some initiative soon before this situation snowballs.

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