Saints GM Mickey Loomis Not On Hot Seat; Team Does Not Anticipate Rebuild
If he had his druthers, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis would not have fired head coach Dennis Allen. Owner Gayle Benson went around her longtime GM and handed Allen his walking papers last week, the second time this season that a team’s owner fired their head coach without input from their top personnel executive (Jets owner Woody Johnson fired Robert Saleh earlier this year and did not involve GM Joe Douglas in the decision).
That would ordinarily be a bad sign for the GM in question, and indeed, Douglas could be in his final days as a member of the Jets’ front office. However, Loomis is reportedly in no danger of losing his job, with Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post writing that Loomis is “bulletproof” as far as Benson is concerned.
“Mickey is going to be able to do whatever he wants,” another team’s GM told La Canfora. “Nothing has changed there.”
Loomis has been in his post since 2002, and during that time, the Saints have compiled a 205-159 record and captured the first and only Super Bowl in franchise history. Of course, the team’s on-field success came with Drew Brees at quarterback, and while Loomis deserves credit for bringing the future Hall of Famer to New Orleans, the first three-plus seasons of the post-Brees era have not gone according to
Now 3-7, the Saints are almost certainly going to miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, and Loomis will be tasked with finding a permanent head coach for just the third time during his tenure. He hired Sean Payton in 2006 and recently navigated Payton’s decision to step down/briefly retire by trading Payton’s rights to the Broncos in exchange for a package fronted by a 2023 first-round pick. Allen, who had served as Payton’s defensive coordinator from 2015-21, was promoted to the HC post following his former boss’ departure.
Interim head coach Darren Rizzi has a real chance to land the job on a full-time basis if the team shows life down the stretch, as La Canfora reports. Speculatively, Loomis may not have many options in that regard, as the team’s typically untenable cap situation and uncertain quarterback situation is unlikely to attract the top HC candidates in the upcoming cycle.
As Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com details in an expansive piece that is well-worth a read for Saints fans in particular, New Orleans is projected to be about $63MM over the 2025 salary cap, $55MM worse than the next closest team. Due to Loomis’ extensive use of void years and restructures, there is no real relief to be found in releasing players, so it will be a challenge to become cap-compliant.
