It took an embarrassment at Carolina for the New Orleans Saints to make a much-needed change, but they finally obliged by parting ways with head coach Dennis Allen after a terrible loss to the Panthers.
This is a move that probably should have happened after last year, but a final-game blowout over rival Atlanta likely prevented that. The Falcons, by the way, fired their coach after that game and are now 6-3 and the clear favorite to represent the NFC South in the postseason.
This is a move that absolutely should have happened Monday, but I’m a little surprised that Saints ownership followed through with it. After all, neither Tom nor Gayle Benson had ever fired a coach midseason, with the franchise’s last instance coming in 1980 after Dick Nolan was let go after starting the year 0-12.
Much was made about how poorly Allen’s tenure in Oakland went, making the Saints’ decision to hire him on full-time baffling to many. But it made sense at the time, as he was a key member of the defensive staff that gave the city of New Orleans its best stretch of football that it had ever seen, and he was a mighty fine defensive coordinator in the latter Sean Payton years.
But following Payton, who called it quits in New Orleans after going 9-8 in 2021 with downright awful quarterback play, was always going to be a challenge. Going 7-10 in your first year was bad enough, but having a winning record – 9-8 – in Year 2 gave him just enough slack for a third year.
Though 9-8 isn’t pretty, outsiders may wonder why they wanted him gone after a winning season. The Saints were regularly embarrassed when playing in front of a national audience, and they were able to take advantage of a weak schedule for the most part in order to get those wins. But if new quarterback Derek Carr and the offense weren’t so abysmal, the Saints would have won 11 or 12 games easily.
Thus, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael was fired and in came Klint Kubiak, who was a successful offensive assistant with San Francisco. It may have only proved to be a Band-aid in reality, but there was some excitement on what Kubiak could do to the offense.
Through the first two games in 2024, the Saints looked like a juggernaut. The offense scored more than 40 points in both games, and a 44-19 win at Dallas in Week 2 turned plenty of heads. But that’s where things fell apart.
The Saints then lost the next week at home 15-12 in a defensive struggle against Philadelphia. Then they lost on a last-second field goal at Atlanta. The next week, they were throttled by twice-defending champion Kansas City on Monday Night.
Then they lost again. And again. And again.
Sunday, the Saints held a 22-17 fourth quarter lead against the woeful Panthers, who lost to New Orleans 47-10 in Week 1 when quarterback Bryce Young struggled to complete a forward pass. On Sunday, Young looked like a competent quarterback for maybe the first time in his career.
Carr was bad. Star receiver Chris Olave was injured, recording his fourth documented concussion in the NFL after an errant pass by Carr led him into danger. The defense was poor. Outspoken former Saints receiver Michael Thomas had his fun on Twitter at his old team’s expense.
It truly was a disaster Sunday, leaving owner Gayle Benson no choice but to cut Allen’s tenure short. And not short enough it was.
So, what’s next?
Interim head coach Darren Rizzi, a respected special teams coach, can certainly try as he might to rally the troops the rest of the season, but there are far more problems underneath.
For starters, the roster is bad. What makes the roster go from bad to awful is the fact that the Saints are projected to be more than $71 million over the salary cap next season. The next closest team is slated to be $17 million over the cap. That’s no typo.
That’s the penalty for kicking the can down the road for as long as the Saints did. They thought they had a chance at winning a Super Bowl, so they did all they could to keep everyone on the team in a win-now mode, future be damned. Well, the future is here, and there are no Vince Lombardi Trophies to show for that strategy.
The trade deadline came and went Tuesday, with star cornerback Marshon Lattimore being dealt to the Washington Commanders for three draft picks. I would have liked to have seen more players moved, but Lattimore absolutely had to go. Despite being a great player, he would have been wasted if he remained on this team.
I would also take a look at cleaning out the front office. I know general manager Mickey Loomis has been with the team since the turn of the millennium, but a fresh set of eyes is badly needed.
The roster needs cleaning out, the front office needs cleaning out and the ownership needs a new way of thinking. This will be a telling next six months for a once proud organization.
