Tag: candidates

Saints head coach candidate Kellen Moore hints at potential staff addition

Saints head coach candidate Kellen Moore hinted at a potential staff addition. His Mizzou OC brother may ‘have a lot of really good opportunities’ very soon:

With Kellen Moore likely becoming the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints, many have wondered what a Moore-led staff would look like.

During yesterday’s media availability, Moore was asked about his younger brother Kirby who just finished his second season as the offensive coordinator for the Missouri Tigers. Kellen Moore had some high praise for his brother’s accomplishments while noting the potential for more opportunities in the near future.

If hired by New Orleans, Moore will be expected to put his coaching staff together immediately. Already behind schedule with hires being announced around the league by the day, it becomes increasingly likely that Moore will look to bring in more familiar faces. Potentially moreso than those with league experience and a strong resume. This is not to say that those options aren’t still out there, but as the last coach hired from this year’s cycle, those options become limited.

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Behind closed doors, the Saints admit they have to rebuild

Behind closed doors, the New Orleans Saints admit they have to rebuild. A messy salary cap spreadsheet and a four-year playoff drought are powerful motivators:

The New Orleans Saints have drawn a lot of ire over the years for their stubborn resistance to rebuilding their team. They’ve continued to push money into future years and max out their salary cap resources to try and compete. Now, depending on where you look (and ultimately depending on where the NFL sets this year’s spending limit), the Saints are in the hole by $54 million to $72 million.

But now it’s gotten to a point where they can’t ignore the inevitable. After struggling to keep their heads above water in a series of 9-8, 7-10, and 9-8 seasons after Drew Brees retired, they finished the 2024 season at 5-12. That’s their worst record since the Hurricane Katrina-impacted season back in 2005. It’s time for change.

And while general manager Mickey Loomis has pushed back on that notion publicly, that isn’t what he’s telling candidates behind closed doors. During a guest appearance on the Athletic Football Show, Dianna Russini shared some insight to the Saints’ expectations for their new head coach.

When asked about the team’s ledger and whether they understand they may need to take a year to untangle their salary cap accounting, Russini responded: “They do. And that’s been part of the conversations they’ve been having with these coaches that want this job. Which is, ‘We’re going to practice patience here, knowing that we’ve put you, if you were to get this job, in this position. It’s not your fault.'”

That situation isn’t for everyone. Candidates who are in great spots with elite young quarterbacks (like Joe Brady and Kliff Kingsbury) have chosen to stay put. Others have gone for greener pastures with more money to invest in their roster (like Aaron Glenn), or opted to wait for better opportunities to open up in next year’s cycle (like Mike McCarthy).

But for a young hotshot offensive coordinator like Kellen Moore, who got thrown out with the bathwater by the Los Angeles Chargers a year ago? Who the Dallas Cowboys moved on from a year before that? And who just saw someone in his same situation, Bobby Slowik, jettisoned by the Houston Texans a year after getting these same head coach interviews? The fit might make sense. Desperation is a strong motivator. It may be driving Moore to stay in New Orleans after the Super Bowl. And it may push the Saints to finally work on getting out of the salary cap mess they’ve made for themselves, too.

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Adam Schefter says that, barring setback, Saints will hire Kellen Moore

Adam Schefter says that, barring a setback, the New Orleans Saints will hire Kellen Moore: ‘A chance to probably triple his salary, become a head coach, one of 32’

The New Orleans Saints head coach search has entered a state of limbo. They don’t have a new coach under contract, but they clearly have a top target. They can’t talk to him, but Kellen Moore and the Philadelphia Eagles will be practicing at their Metairie facility this week. They aren’t allowed to speak with Moore until after Super Bowl LIX, which will be played at the Caesars Superdome. And they’ve told other coach candidates they won’t be making a decision until after the Super Bowl. Conveniently, that’s when Moore will be cleared to contact the team.

It’s kind of an awkward place to be in. All signs point to Moore becoming the Saints’ next head coach, but we aren’t across the finish line yet. ESPN’s Adam Schefter spoke about the situation during a Monday appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.

“Of course, barring a setback, he’s going to be the guy. Could there be a setback? Sure. There often are setbacks,” Schefter said, pointing to examples like Josh McDaniels leaving the Indianapolis Colts at the alter and Bill Belichick not coaching the New York Jets. It was a different scenario but Liam Coen flipping back to the Jacksonville Jaguars, leaving an offer on the table with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a more recent example.

Schefter added that general manager Mickey Loomis has taken steps (and will continue to take steps) to do “everything in his power, when it comes to this coaching hire, to follow the rules and go by the book and not talk to Kellen Moore until after the Super Bowl. Could it break down and they not reach an agreement? Sure. Its that likely? No. Kellen Moore is gonna have a chance to probably triple his salary, become a head coach, one of 32.”

Why can’t the Saints contact Moore? That would be considered tampering, a penalty which would include a loss of draft picks. Schefter added, “What are they waiting for? Why not go hire him right now? But they’re not, and they’re waiting. They’re waiting to talk to Kellen Moore and they’re waiting to make sure they give the Eagles absolutely zero evidence that they’ve tampered with the guy until after the game.”

The Eagles have been here before, and the Saints clearly learned from being on the outside looking in. Philadelphia benefited from tampering charges on the Arizona Cardinals not following NFL protocol to hire Jonathan Gannon (then the Eagles defensive coordinator) as their head coach. That isn’t a situation Loomis is going to put the Saints in, hence the delay.

You just hope a setback doesn’t appear that takes Moore out of the running for the job. He’ll be speaking with the media almost every day leading up to Super Bowl LIX and is certain to face questions about the Saints’ controversial involvement in the New Orleans archdiocese clergy abuse scandal. The next week will be crucial.

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Silence is an answer in New Orleans Saints head coaching search

The longer the New Orleans Saints don’t announce their new head coach, the more likely it will be Philadelphia Eagles OC Kellen Moore:

The New Orleans Saints are the only remaining coaching vacancy in the NFL, and the longer that remains the truth, the more obvious the selection. The Saints conducted their final interview on Monday when they flew to Philadelphia to meet with Kellen Moore.

Moore is the clear frontrunner for the job at this point, but the Saints can’t officially announce him as the head coach until after Super Bowl LIX since the Philadelphia Eagles are participating. That means they must wait until Monday, Feb. 10 to make it official.

If the Saints go into next week without a head coach, it’s a very safe assumption Moore will be the coach. If they decide to go in any other direction, all the other options are available to be hired at the present moment.

It also shouldn’t take two weeks to decide you want to go with a candidate such as Anthony Weaver. The Saints’ decision on who their next head coach will be should be done soon, if not already decided on. If there isn’t an announcement soon, they’re waiting until after the Super Bowl for a reason.

If Moore is the choice, New Orleans has to be careful to take the proper steps when approaching him. The Arizona Cardinals had to swap third-round picks with the Eagles after being found guilty of tampering with Johnathan Gannon for not adhering to the NFL contact schedule.

So far, the Saints have seemed to go by the book. Seeing that New Orleans needs to reload the roster, being forced to swap picks with the Eagles would be impactful.

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It doesn’t sound like the Saints are about to reset their salary cap spending

It doesn’t sound like the Saints are about to reset their salary cap spending. They may feel Mike McCarthy can get more out of their roster than Dennis Allen did:

Given the New Orleans Saints’ lack of success in recruiting head coach candidates, a lot of fingers have been pointed at what makes their job opening so undesirable. Maybe Aaron Glenn and Joe Brady didn’t want to come here because of the state of the roster, or the salary cap situation, or having a mediocre quarterback locked in for the foreseeable future — or maybe it’s because Mickey Loomis isn’t seen as a good boss. Maybe it’s a combination of those variables.

Not many of those variables can be changed. But the biggest (or at least the loudest, and most persistent) criticism of how the Saints do business might fall on their salary cap management. The team has a lot of resources tied up in contracts with older players and they already lead the league in dead money left over from expired contracts with guys like Marshon Lattimore, Michael Thomas, and Jameis Winston. And that’s before Ryan Ramczyk’s retirement has been processed with more dead money hits coming for free agents like Chase Young and Juwan Johnson.

So there’s a compelling argument to be made that the Saints should blow it all up. Trade whoever they can. Cut whoever they can. Take their medicine this year and try to compete in 2026 or 2027, whenever the roster has turned over and they can afford to sign new talent.

But that doesn’t sound like the path they’re taking based on this report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He characterized their interest in former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy as a way for the Saints to compete right away.

“Mike McCarthy, I’m told, is expected to interview with the Saints probably around the middle of this week,” Pelissero said Sunday morning, pointing to McCarthy’s history as an offensive coordinator with New Orleans from 2000 to 2004. Pelissero added, “He’s also got a lot of success in his past, 12 playoff appearances in 18 seasons, potentially a really good fit for a Saints team that is very much built to win right now.”

That sure doesn’t sound like a team preparing to cut a lot of veterans and reset the salary cap accounting books. If the Saints don’t see a viable way out of their cap crunch without restructuring Derek Carr’s contract or moving on from defensive cornerstones like Cameron Jordan, Tyrann Mathieu and Demario Davis, maybe bringing in McCarthy and continuing to kick the can down the road until those guys simply age out is the best path forward. Maybe it isn’t.

Maybe McCarthy’s two 6- and 7-win seasons with the Cowboys are a stronger indicator of what the Saints should expect than the three 12-win years sandwiched in-between. We’ll just have to see how Loomis and Co. get out of this mess they’ve made for themselves.

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Two former Saints in the running for Defensive Player of the Year

Zack Baun is getting Luke Kuechly comparisons. Trey Hendrickson led the league in sacks. The Saints let two DPOY finalists walk out the door in free agency:

Zack Baun and Trey Hendrickson making first-team All Pro was a great reminder of the talent the New Orleans Saints let walk out of the building. As if that wasn’t enough, both men are also finalists for Defensive Player of the Year.

In a season, where there wasn’t a defensive player, or players, who clearly stood over the rest of the pack, this award seems up in the air.

Baun winning the award feels like a long shot due to his position. He was great in his first year with the Philadelphia Eagles, but Luke Kuechly was the last linebacker to win this award over a decade ago.

Ironically, Baun’s 2024 is very similar to Kuechly’s DPOY season in 2013. Kuechly also endorsed Baun as the player he’d pick to win the award this year on the Rich Eisen Show.

Hendrickson registered 17.5 sacks for the second season. This year it was good enough to lead the NFL in sacks. He also registered 19 tackles for a loss. Hendrickson earned his first first-team All Pro, and his stats give him a good chance of being Defensive Player of the Year for the first time as well.

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Report: Saints planning second interviews with coaches still in the playoffs

NFL Network reports the New Orleans Saints are planning second interviews with coaches still in the playoffs like Joe Brady and Kellen Moore:

With the news of highly coveted defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn accepting the New York Jets head coaching job, the New Orleans Saints will continue the search for their lead guy.

It was reported earlier in the week that coaches Mike McCarthy, Anthony Weaver, and Mike Kafka would be meeting with the team sometime this week after the recent snowstorm led to delay. Along with these candidates though, the team is also expected to meet for a second time with offensive coordinators Joe Brady and Kellen Moore.

A meeting with these two, will almost certainly come after this weekend’s games regardless of what happens with their respective teams. It does help that the Super Bowl is in New Orleans this year, which would make it a quick trip if either were to make it to the big game. If not, obviously the team will be able to fly either guy after a loss.

There is also the potential for more candidates to enter into the mix, possibly Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury whom the team requested to interview a couple weeks ago. We’ll likely learn more about where these candidates stand in the next week or so when the weather permits travel and when playoff coaches become available.

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Saints officially reschedule in-person interviews with several head coach candidates

The New Orleans Saints officially rescheduled their in-person interviews with several head coach candidates after a historic snowstorm struck the Gulf South:

The New Orleans Saints have officially rescheduled in-person interviews with a couple of head coaching candidates in the wake of the city’s record snowfall, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The team will be flying both Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to New Orleans in the next couple of days. Weaver is expected to arrive ahead of Kafka this Friday, while Kafka will be looking to interview on Saturday.

It was also noted that former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay packers head coach Mike McCarthy will likely have his first interview with the team sometime next week. Philadelphia Eagles OC Kellen Moore and his Buffalo Bills counterpart Joe Brady are also expected to interview soon, with the date pending as both will be coaching for a shot at the Super Bowl this weekend.

With the league’s top candidates now off the board, the Saints will likely slow down their approach a bit and thoroughly evaluate each of their options going forward.

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B/R picks three Saints veterans as likely cap casualties this offseason

The New Orleans Saints have little money to work with this offseason, which could lead to these veterans being salary cap casualties:

The New Orleans Saints are strapped for cash this offseason, which means that a number of veterans could be let go in an attempt to free up some more money.

Bleacher Report’s scouting department recently scoured through each NFL team’s roster to find players likely to be cut this offseason in an effort to free up some money. For the Saints, it was three veteran role players that do make some sense.

First up, it was fan-favorite defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who could clear up about $2.6 million in cap if he were cut.

Saunders was an exciting player when he was picked up in free agency ahead of 2023, but he has not been exactly the player that was hoped for. It’s not a great sign when all of your defensive tackle’s best plays came on the offensive side of the ball. The Saints run defense was abysmal last year and everyone on the interior outside of Bryan Bresee is expendable.

Next was someone who is almost assuredly going to get cut, Cedrick Wilson Jr. He would clear just a bit less at $2.4 million, but he was a non-factor this year so it is a no-brainer. Wilson had just 20 catches for 211 yards and a score.

Lastly, it was someone that would hurt to see get cut. Hometown tight end Foster Moreau would free up almost $2.8 million.

This is one that doesn’t make much sense. He is, by far, the most likely of the three to survive this offseason. Moreau had 32 catches for 413 yards and five scores despite largely being a blocker. He is a fine second tight end and is a leader on the team. Replacing him for less than $2.8 million would be a tall task.

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Saints’ thorough vetting process may delay their head coach hiring timeline

The New Orleans Saints’ thorough vetting process may delay their head coach decision. There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen and plenty of candidates available:

The Saints have an in-person interview scheduled with Aaron Glenn on Wednesday. It makes sense they’d strike quickly after the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Washington Commanders.

Glenn has been the projected favorite for New Orleans since Day 1. The MMQB’s Albert Breer reports the Saints are “hoping to do second interviews with all five of the other guys they did virtual interviews with (Mike Kafka, Anthony Weaver, Joe Brady, Kellen Moore, Darren Rizzi).”

It’s been a thorough vetting process. Each of those candidates saw a lot of faces staring back on those initial Zoom calls; not just general manager Mickey Loomis, but his lieutenants Jeff Ireland (another former GM) and Khai Harley, as well as pro scouting coordinator Michael Parenton. Personnel consultants Dave Ziegler and Randy Mueller, both former GM’s, have also been involved with these interviews.

Mike McCarthy has reportedly scheduled an interview for later in the work. Weather permitting, Glenn, Kafka and Weaver have scheduled their interviews for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Where it gets interesting is Brady and Moore, whose teams are still in the playoffs. So is Kliff Kingsbury. If New Orleans is adamant about sitting down with all of these candidates or even just Brady, who feels like one of the top options, the process will extend into next week. This is especially true when factoring in the weather delays that may occur during a rare Louisiana snowstorm.

It could push the Saints into a position where they won’t name a head coach before the Senior Bowl.

You always want to be proactive about scheduling interviews, because you don’t want to place all of your eggs in the Glenn basket. This extended timeline only comes into play if the Saints are adamant about talking to everyone or if Glenn chooses another suitor.

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