Report: Saints unlikely to move on from Loomis

By Ross Jackson

Despite the calls for a change, the chances of that change at general manager for the New Orleans Saints looks to be slim.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has been the subject of heavy scrutiny this year after reports suggested that he contested the midseason firing of Dennis Allen. 

Loomis has been firm on his belief that changing coaches during a season rarely brings positive results. However, the Saints did get off to a 2-0 start after Allen was dismissed. The long-time general manager maintains that the impact of the long list of injuries the team has suffered this season has been the cause of the Saints circumstances.

The viewpoint has proven to be controversial for fans who have been calling for New Orleans to follow up their head coaching change with another shift at general manager. However, that unsurprisingly does not look to be the direction New Orleans will go per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

In Fowler’s latest collection of league buzz, he highlighted that many league sources believe that Loomis is at low risk to be replaced. 

“The early belief among league insiders is that Mickey Loomis has a good chance to remain as Saints general manager,” Fowler writes. “That’s not 100%, but that’s what people in the know on these sorts of things are predicting.”

Considering how much New Orleans values continuity and familiarity, this isn’t massively surprising. It was a bit of a shock when Saints owner Gayle Benson and her team made the move to fire a head coach midseason in the first place. To follow that up with a change at general manager may not be surprising across the league, it but certainly would have been surprising for Airline Drive.

Barring a major shift, Loomis will get another chance to be a part of hiring the next New Orleans Saints head coach. Making the right decision here will be critical for the success of the team but also the future of some executives and decision makers, as the throes of the NFL can set in quickly. 

Fowler also highlights that the team’s comfort with continuity could set them on a path to interview head coaching candidates that fit the quality. Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is going to be a hot name this offseason, but particularly for New Orleans where he was a defensive backs coach for many years, his fit is obvious. Two other names mentioned by the ESPN insider were Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Brady is a former Saints staffer while Joseph is from New Orleans.

Expect all three to be among the long list of interview candidates that Loomis and the Saints brass will consider.