randy mueller – Syndication Server

Report: Mickey Loomis ‘has a good chance’ to return as Saints GM in 2025

ESPN reports Mickey Loomis ‘has a good chance’ to return as Saints general manager in 2025. He’s already the longest-tenured GM in the league:

Mickey Loomis has just about run out of goodwill with New Orleans Saints fans. Between a playoff drought stretching into its fourth season, a dead-end head coaching hire in Dennis Allen, a series of condescending media appearances, and the decision to move training camp out of state and closed to fans, there haven’t been many moves made by his front office that fans can be proud of.

Plenty of fans have taken to social media calling for Loomis to step down from his post. But it doesn’t sound like that’s in the cards. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that sources around the league don’t expect big shakeup at the top of the Saints’ organization:

The early belief among league insiders is that Mickey Loomis has a good chance to remain as Saints general manager. That’s not 100%, but that’s what people in the know on these sorts of things are predicting. The Saints have traditionally valued connectivity/familiarity, which could be a factor in the interview process (for a new head coach).

It’s not like the Saints don’t have alternatives in the building. Khai Harley, their salary cap expert and vice president of football operations who owns the assistant GM title, has spent years working under Loomis to get the most out of every dollar. Jeff Ireland, also named an assistant GM and vice president of college personnel, is just one of the former general managers in the front office. The players he’s scouted in the draft have gone on to find pro success (frustratingly, too often after the Saints’ coaching staff failed to help them). Other executives and front office personnel like Michael Parenton, Dave Ziegler, and Randy Mueller either have experience leading an organization or are seen as rising stars who could do so.

The point of all this? If continuity to their success five, ten, or fifteen years ago is so important to the Saints, they can maintain that without stubbornly sticking to Loomis. He’s the longest-tenured general manager in the league but he doesn’t have the recent success to show for it. Ultimately the decision is up to Gayle Benson, who has often deferred to Loomis on football decisions. Things could change over the next month, but as it currently stands we should expect Loomis to continue calling the shots in New Orleans.

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Saints front office executive reveals what he’d trade for Davante Adams

The Raiders are reportedly open to trading Davante Adams. Before he joined the Saints front office this year, Randy Mueller shared his take on Adams’ trade value:

We’re a month out from the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 5, and trade speculation is already gathering around Davante Adams. The Las Vegas Raiders are rudderless without a quarterback are open to trading the star wideout so they can load up for next year’s draft. The New Orleans Saints are a possible fit, and there’s at least one voice in their front office who sees some value in the six-time Pro Bowler.

Randy Mueller began working with the team this spring as they prepared for the 2024 draft, and he was formally hired to a role in the pro personnel department in August. He was seen palling around with Mickey Loomis and Khai Hartley on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium sideline during Sunday’s game with the Atlanta Falcons. He’s one of three former NFL general managers working under Loomis, along with Jeff Ireland and Dave Ziegler, who traded for Adams when he was running the Raiders.

And what would Mueller trade for Adams? He shared his take earlier this year with Paul “Boy Green” Esden’s YouTube show.

“If I were looking to fill a need at receiver, I would probably offer them less than people would think,” Mueller said. “I would think it would be a second-round pick that maybe could go to a first if he meets some thresholds along the way. So it would be a conditional-type, stair-stepping of the compensation. 31 years old, is what it is.”

Adams will be 32 in a few months, but Mueller’s point stands. He isn’t going to be valued to the same degree he was when Ziegler’s Raiders sent a package of first- and second-round picks to the Green Bay Packers. But they are a rebuilding team without a quarterback, so they could use the ammo. And we’ve already gone over the math involved, which may push the Saints to up the ante to facilitate a deal. Still, if Mueller’s logic is sound, there could be a ceiling to what the Raiders can demand.

“I don’t think you can get a first round pick for Davante Adams at this point, I really don’t,” Mueller added.

Will Adams get traded? Will he go to New Orleans? Wilder things have happened, but this doesn’t look like a situation that will get resolved any time soon.

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Former Saints GM Randy Mueller returns to help with 2024 draft prep

Former Saints GM Randy Mueller returned to help his old friend Mickey Loomis with 2024 draft prep:

It’s not often you see a team’s former general manager return to help out his successor, but that’s the unique position the New Orleans Saints took in preparing for the 2024 NFL draft. Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan reported that former Saints GM Randy Mueller spent the last two weeks assisting with final evaluations.

Mueller earned recognition as the NFL Executive of the Year back in 2000, having overhauled the Saints’ roster and set them up on the road to recovery from Mike Ditka’s disastrous trade for Ricky Williams. But he was unceremoniously ousted by team owner Tom Benson just a few years later, and replaced by Loomis.

Those two go way back. Loomis followed Mueller to New Orleans from the Seattle Seahawks, and they’ve maintained a relationship even after Mueller was shown the door so many years ago. But Mueller isn’t the only former general manager that Loomis has added to the team’s war room.

Jeff Ireland is another. The former Miami Dolphins executive has ran the Saints’ college scouting department for nearly a decade, and he’s one of the most highly regarded talent evaluators in the league. And we shouldn’t overlook Dave Ziegler. The ex-Las Vegas Raiders general manager joined the Saints earlier this offseason and has been a big help on the pro day circuit helping to gather information.

So there’s really four general managers sharing their input as the Saints approached the 2024 draft: Loomis, Ireland, Ziegler, and Mueller. Hopefully their combined efforts result in some difference-making draft picks.

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Former GM calls Vikings teambuilding strategy a rebuild

Competitive or not, former general manager Randy Mueller believes the Vikings are in a rebuild.

On the Athletic Football Show, former NFL general manager Randy Mueller hosts The Football GM where he gives insight from a front-office perspective

The most recent episode had Mueller going into his notebook to discuss the Minnesota Vikings and their team-building strategy. It started as a simple discussion about the viability of Danielle Hunter’s contract. It ended with Mueller calling it a rebuild.

Mueller believes that with the new-look defense under Flores and the shaky return Minnesota would get in a trade, it would be best for both parties for Hunter to stay put. Mueller stated that the Vikings “are not afraid” to get younger on defense where necessary.

Contrary to last season’s success, Mueller is right. This is a rebuild., competitive or not. And the Vikings need to see what they have in their young defensive pieces. However, if Adofo-Mensah wants to remain competitive, keeping players like Hunter to help ease this defense into the next stage of Vikings football is essential.

Since 2020, the Vikings are 20th in EPA/play defensively, but the team is getting younger. They are looking toward the future of Minnesota. But to stay relevant in the present, keeping cornerstones like Hunter in purple and gold will be paramount.

Former Dolphins GM shares insight on Xavien Howard standoff

The Miami Dolphins and star cornerback Xavien Howard are currently mired in a contract dispute; one that has shown some glimpses of hope but no real traction towards being resolved. There appears to be a fundamental difference between Howard’s camp (arguing that he was under-compensated for 2020) and the Dolphins (who presumably are taking the stance that they’re only willing to pay for play going forward). It is a complicated dance of posturing. And while Miami and Howard will eventually come to put this behind them one way or another, the opinions on how that resolution should come varies depending on nearly everyone you ask.

One former Miami Dolphins general manager has chimed in on the situation: Randy Mueller served as the general manager for the Dolphins during the Nick Saban and Cam Cameron years of 2005-2007. In the years that have passed since, Mueller has continued his career in player personnel but now offers musings through a monthly newsletter. The top subject for August’s release?

Howard and the Dolphins.

“If I were the GM, I’d consider a life preserver type move for Howard, offering to advance payment of his salary or maybe even add an incentive for 11 or more INT’s (he made 10 last year) that would not count against the cap. If that wasn’t enough, I think I’d just let him sit. If he becomes a distraction or less than team oriented, the Dolphins always have the fine of “conduct detrimental to the team” card to play. I would not give him a new deal, and definitely not while he is, in all reality, withholding services.” — Randy Mueller, former Miami Dolphins general manager

Mueller’s plan of attack technically sides with Howard; as it has been reported that Howard and his agent, David Canter, have proposed an advance on future salary as one possible solution for the standoff with the Dolphins. His next step of added incentives falls in line with where the Dolphins have reportedly tried to appease the situation.

And so now the question becomes which side blinks first. But according to Mueller, both sides of this situation are asking the right questions of the other side.