Pro Football Rumors
After a flurry of activity late last week filled three more jobs on this year’s market, only the Saints are still looking for a head coach. Kellen Moore‘s Super Bowl LIX responsibilities introduce a situation similar to 2023, where a team could wait on an Eagles staffer. But the Saints are also still considering a few candidates not on Super Bowl staffs.
Mike McCarthy joins Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver and Giants OC Mike Kafka among staffers viewed as still in this mix. Bills OC Joe Brady bowed out over the weekend, and no Kliff Kingsbury interview is believed to have been scheduled — despite a previous request coming out. The Saints have preferred familiarity under Mickey Loomis, and McCarthy is the only finalist left who checks that box. The former Packers and Cowboys HC served as the Saints’ OC from 2000-04. McCarthy emerged as an early candidate, but issues remain ahead of a potential reunion.
A snowstorm last week prompted the Saints to push back some interviews, and no formal McCarthy in-person meeting is believed to have occurred. The team flew in Moore on Monday night and already conducted second interviews with Kafka and Weaver. New Orleans does intend to finally bring in McCarthy for a meeting later this week, per NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill. Informal conversations leading up to that point may be creating some distance between the parties, though.
Some in the Saints organization are not high on McCarthy, according to Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline, who indicates initial talks between McCarthy and Loomis — who was in place as GM when the Saints and McCarthy split in 2005 — have produced snags. One of them appears to be how many assistants he would be forced to retain. Although the Saints have lost OC Klint Kubiak to the Seahawks, Pauline adds Loomis is expected to want to retain some other staffers who are under contract. McCarthy may not be seeing eye-to-eye with the Saints on this matter, even if this is the only HC vacancy left.
The Saints’ power structure may be an issue as well. How the Saints will arrange their internal communication, along with the power structure in general, are coming out as issues, per Bovada’s Josina Anderson. As was the case in McCarthy’s Cowboys talks earlier this month, Anderson adds contract length has come up with the Saints as well. With coaching contracts guaranteed, longer-term deals are preferred. McCarthy is 61, which may be a slight complication; though, the Raiders just hired Pete Carroll months after his 73rd birthday.
Some around the league are also wondering how owner Gayle Benson should handle football ops moving forward, Anderson adds. This could pertain to Loomis’ foothold. Among pure GMs, only Cowboys Hall of Famer Tex Schramm enjoyed a longer tenure than Loomis, who is going into his 24th offseason in power. The Saints installed Loomis as their front office boss in May 2002. While that tenure changed dramatically when the team outflanked the Dolphins for Drew Brees in 2006, Loomis’...
