The Panthers hired an internal candidate in Dan Morgan, not Saints executive Khai Harley, as their next general manager:
It looks like Khai Harley will be staying with the New Orleans Saints — the Carolina Panthers promoted an internal candidate to their general manager position after interviewing him, naming Dan Morgan to the post. Morgan had worked as their assistant general manager since 2021 and previously played for the Panthers as a Pro Bowl linebacker, though he finished his career with the Saints before retiring in 2009.
Carolina was the only reported interview request for Harley in this year’s cycle thus far, so unless another suitor emerges it’s safe to assume he’ll be staying in New Orleans. And that’s big news for the Saints front office. Harley’s management of the salary cap and knowledge of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement are indispensable resources.
He might be their future general manager, too. Speculation has swirled that longtime GM Mickey Loomis could step into a more hands-off role with the Saints someday, and while he said that may not happen in the near future, it isn’t something he would rule out altogether. If Loomis does vacate his seat then Harley would be a natural successor. But that’s a long ways off. For now Harley will be responsible for keeping the books in order and doing his part to help the Saints field a competitive team on Sundays.
Mickey Loomis shoots down rumor, says he isn’t stepping down or changing his title as Saints general manager and executive vice president:
Forget what you read on social media: Mickey Loomis isn’t going anywhere. The New Orleans Saints general manager and executive vice president was asked about a rumor going around in fan communities online that he would be moving to a different role in the organization, freeing up one of his top assistants to succeed him as general manager.
And Loomis dismissed it as just that: a rumor.
“Somebody just made that up,” Loomis said. “That’s never been discussed or talked about.”
Loomis added that he could wake up one day and feel differently about his place in the organization, but as of now the course is set. He’ll remain in place as the team’s top decision-maker both in title and in practice.
That’s all happening in the wake of interview requests from other teams hoping to poach talent from the Saints’ front office. Loomis acknowledged that assistant general managers Khai Harley and Jeff Ireland were sought out by the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers, respectively, and he added that pro personnel director Michael Parenton is someone else he regards highly within their organization. Harley manages the salary cap, and Ireland covers the college scouting department, and there’s a chance both of them leave town in the near future.
That would be a mistake. Loomis might be the longest-tenured general manager in the league but he doesn’t have much to show for it without Sean Payton and Drew Brees. His Saints teams have gone a combined 44-54 from 2002 to 2005 and 2022 to 2023, before and after Payton was leading them. A lot was made of Loomis guiding the Saints to 200-plus career wins this season but Payton takes credit for 152 of them (and Super Bowl XLIV).
Losing talented executives like Ireland and Harley to protect Loomis’ job security is, well, laughable. But Loomis was all laughs at his end-of-year press conference on Wednesday. He isn’t going anywhere until he’s good and ready, and he took this opportunity to remind everyone watching that he’s in control here. Ownership won’t force him out, and he isn’t about to give up his title to benefit someone else. He wants to prove he can win without Payton. If that means standing by a coach like Dennis Allen, well — good luck.
The Chargers requested an interview with the Saints’ Jeff Ireland concerning their open general manager job:
Could the New Orleans Saints lose both of Mickey Loomis’ top lieutenants? NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Los Angeles Chargers have requested an interview with Jeff Ireland for their open general manager position; the Saints’ assistant general manager and vice president of college personnel has received several inquiries in recent years, but a job offer has yet to materialize. Ireland has ran his own team before as the Miami Dolphins general manager, though that stint ended without much success.
Still, there’s a good chance another team gives him a shot someday. That’s also true of New Orleans’ other assistant GM Khai Harley, their vice president of football operations who manages the team salary cap. Harley received an interview request from the Carolina Panthers as they also seek to hire a new general manager.
Which means there’s a real possibility that the Saints could lose each of their best internal candidates to replace Loomis someday in one offseason. Loomis is the longest-tenured general manager in the NFL and doesn’t appear to be ready to leave his post. If the Saints front office hemorrhages talent this offseason and he steps into a different role or retires in a few years, they could have a hard time replacing him.
Join us as we track every candidate in the Panthers’ search for a new general manager
Congratulations, Carolina Panthers fans. You got a twofer this time around!
Not only will the organization be on their second head-coaching hunt in as many offseasons—but, with the dismissal of Scott Fitterer, they’ll also be on the prowl for a new general manager.
Keep it here as we track each candidate throughout the process.
The Panthers confirmed interview requests for eight GM candidates on Monday.
Hmmm . . . it’s almost as if the Carolina Panthers knew they weren’t moving forward with Scott Fitterer.
On Monday, not even 12 hours after announcing his firing, the team confirmed their interview requests for eight general manager candidates.
The list is as follows:
New York Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown
Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant general manager Mike Greenberg
Kansas City Chiefs vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis
Philadelphia Eagles assistant general manager Alec Halaby
New Orleans Saints assistant general manager Khai Harley
Baltimore Ravens vice president of football administration Nick Matteo
Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds
Las Vegas Raiders interim general manager Champ Kelly
Just as in their head-coaching hunt, where they’ve also confirmed interview requests for nine candidates, the Panthers are not permitted to hold in-person interviews for the position until Jan. 22.
This will be the first time the organization is set to hire both a new general manager and a new head coach in the same offseason since 2002.
The Panthers have requested an interview with Saints assistant GM Khai Harley, possibly giving him the chance to run his own team:
It didn’t take long for Khai Harley’s name to come up in the latest NFL hiring cycle. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported that the New Orleans Saints salary cap expert has been requested for an interview with the Carolina Panthers — who are seeking to hire a new general manager. CBS Sports insider Jonathan Jones confirmed the report.
Harley officially carries the titles of assistant general manager and vice president of football operations with the Saints, but his primary focus has been directed at managing the salary cap. He pioneered the use of contract restructures that have become popular around the league, maximizing a team’s cap resources while taking advantage of the ever-rising salary cap.
So he’s a vitally important member of the organization. The Saints must approve the Panthers’ interview request before they can speak with Harley about the job, but they didn’t stop Terry Fontenot from leaving to join the Atlanta Falcons, so that’s likely going to be little more than a formality.
But will Harley have any interest in working for controversial Panthers owner David Tepper? Known as a bad boss with a penchant for meddling in personnel moves, joining Tepper may not be the best option for Harley. We’ll see if any other teams reach out. But there are only 32 general manager positions available, and Carolina’s cap situation is much easier to navigate than New Orleans’.
If there’s little or no possibility for advancement with the Saints, it shouldn’t shock anyone if Harley leaves for an opportunity to run his own team. We’ll have to wait and see how this situation develops and whether any other teams inquire about his services.
The New Orleans Saints recognized Mickey Loomis for his 200th career win as their general manager on Sunday after taking down the Carolina Panthers, and it’s quite an achievement. Loomis is the longest-tenured general manager in the league (not counting owner-GM’s like Jerry Jones and head coach-GM’s such as Bill Belichick), and he’s joined rare company after seeing the team’s he’s built win 200 games.
Look at the names on the list of executives to see 200 wins: Tex Schramm, Bill Polian, Kevin Colbert, and Ozzie Newsome, plus Jones, Belichick, and Al Davis. That’s the kind of company Loomis keeps with his impressive longevity.
Saints owner Gayle Benson awarded Loomis a customized game ball for this achievement in the locker room after Sunday’s win.
“We’ve been waiting a little while to get this done,” said Saints head coach Dennis Allen in the locker room after the game, leading up to the presentation. The team first put out notice of Loomis closing in on this accomplishment after their Nov. 5 win over the Chicago Bears (his 199th victory), so they’ve presumably been waiting for a month during their three-game losing streak and bye week to put a pin in it.
So how much longer will Loomis lead the organization? Most executives retire or step into less-prominent roles at this stage in his career, but it’s anyone’s guess when Loomis will be ready to make a move. With promising GM candidates in the building like Khai Harley and Jeff Ireland, it feels like the Saints risk losing some talented people if this decision is put off for too long.
Mrs. Benson presents Mickey Loomis a game ball as Sunday's victory was the #Saints 200th win with Loomis as general manager ⚜️
Saints salary cap expert Khai Harley is one of many candidates attending this year’s NFL Front Office and General Manager Accelerator event:
Khai Harley is the New Orleans Saints’ secret weapon. His official job title is listed as the assistant general manager and vice president of football administration, but Harley’s main role in the front office is navigating the salary cap. No one knows the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement better, and he works around the clock each year to find loopholes and clauses to exploit so the Saints can get the most bang for their buck.
And it’s put him on other teams’ radars. Harley is on track to run his own team someday, and his participation in key summits like the annual NFL Front Office and General Manager Accelerator event at league meetings in December will only help raise his profile around the NFL.
Harley was announced as one of dozens of candidates from many teams around the league who have been selected for this year’s Accelerator, which will give him opportunities to network with team owners and other executives before the next hiring cycle. The event also features seminars, mock interviews, and professional development workshops to help prepare future general managers.
Could Harley be the next man up in New Orleans? He shares the assistant general manager title with Jeff Ireland (who is also the team’s vice president of college personnel), a former general manager himself. Mickey Loomis runs the show and is the longest-tenured GM around the league, but it’s possible he could step up into an executive role in the years ahead. The Saints would be wise to hold onto Harley, but if Loomis isn’t ready to give up his seat he may go elsewhere in search of the right opportunity.
Mickey Loomis reflected on his toughest Saints roster cuts, saying there isn’t one specific player that was the hardest to part with so much as a recurring archetype:
The annual NFL roster cuts deadline is coming up on Tuesday, and it’s an unpleasant process for all involved; not just the players losing their jobs, but team personnel like New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis, who has to be the bearer of bad news to dozens of young men.
Loomis recently appeared on Chris Long’s Green Light Podcast and fielded a number of questions, but the most difficult to answer concerned these roster cuts. Long asked Loomis which release had been the toughest in his Saints tenure, to which the league’s most-experienced GM responded carefully. From his point of view, there isn’t one specific player that was the hardest to part with so much as an archetype he’s run into more often than he’d like.
“Yeah, oof, boy. Good question,” Loomis exhaled, gathering his thoughts. “There’s a lot of them. And the toughest cuts are always the veteran player who’s been with you if not his whole career, a long time. You just — it’s tough emotionally to let someone go who’s contributed so much to your team, your community, the building.
“These guys, they’re great people. I think NFL players, they’re high achievers, they’re intelligent, they’re just great people with very few exceptions. And so they become part of your family. They’re appreciated by the secretaries, by every person in your building. So when you finally have to say, hey, you’re probably not good enough anymore, it’s time to go? That, that’s hard. That’s really hard.”
Loomis pointed out that these splits sometimes lead to discontent in the fanbase — as was the case with Jimmy Graham, who the Saints traded away years ago. He says he’s heard about it from fans everywhere, including his daughter, who continued to support Graham and wore his Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Bears jerseys as his NFL career continued away from New Orleans.
So while getting Graham back in black and gold was something that’s sparked a lot of positivity inside and outside the team facility, Loomis acknowledged how rare these reunions can be: “But those kinds of things are tough. Whether it’s a trade or letting someone go, it’s like losing a piece of your family sometimes.”
Moving on from franchise fixtures like Graham is something Loomis knows all too well. He’s had to break the bad news to fan-favorites like former Saints punter Thomas Morstead (190 games played for New Orleans), All-Pro guard Jahri Evans (169 games), franchise receiving leader Marques Colston (146 games), and a host of Super Bowl heroes like the late Will Smith, Jonathan Vilma, Roman Harper, Jabari Greer, Pierre Thomas, and Lance Moore, among many others.
It’s not an appealing part of the job. And it’s something Loomis and his staff — including recently-promoted assistant general manager Khai Harley will have to fulfill again in the days ahead. For all the personal connections and familial ties that football creates, it’s a stark reminder that, at the end of the day, it’s still a business.
New Orleans Saints announce staff changes for 2023 season, promote salary cap specialist Khai Harley to assistant general manager:
This is cool: the New Orleans Saints announced a couple of staff changes and additions on Tuesday, with the most notable news being a promotion for Khai Harley. The salary cap specialist still retains his title as vice president of football operations — but he’s now pulling double-duty as their assistant general manager.
Mickey Loomis is still on top of the organizational chart as general manager and executive vice president, but Harley now shares a title with Jeff Ireland as assistant GM to Loomis. Ireland’s main focus remains on the college scouting department, but now both he and Harley carry the assistant GM title.
Loomis is the longest-tenured general manager in the league. He’ll turn 67 this year. He won’t be around forever, and it’s very possible that the Saints are setting up someone like Harley to succeed him in a couple of years. Ireland also has experience at the top of the organization from his six-year run with the Miami Dolphins. Either way, this promotion is a well-deserved recognition for a key member of the front office. Harley has done a great job navigating the salary cap and the CBA to keep the Saints competitive year in and year out.
What about the other moves? For the most part, the Saints confirmed additions who were previously reported during the summer like defensive assistant coach Matt Giordano, analytics director Zach Stuart, and football administration director Scott Kuhn. They also shuffled the scouting department with Matt Phillips becoming an area scout and Will Martinez taking over as NFL combine scout.
But a couple of other new hires stand out. Former Louisiana Tech assistant to the head coach and NFL liaison Ziad Qubti is joining the team as their new college scouting coordinator under Ireland, with Rishi Desai (former Ole Miss director of scouting and an LSU graduate) also joining the scouting department. It’s good to see minority candidates getting these opportunities, especially with the NFL awarding compensatory draft picks when they’re hired to executive positions. If they help the organization find good players and develop into sought-after GM candidates in their own right, them leaving someday would bring back valuable draft assets to New Orleans. It’s a win-win.
