ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler: Saints Head Coach opening is a coveted job among people I’ve spoken to; Mike McCarthy could have interest (2 Viewers)

[DSnfla]

Read my post again. Yes, I watched this season, hence “zero depth”.

Harris is 29, Johnson is 28 and not very good. Neither of them are young talent. Kendre Miller has played about 6 games in 2 seasons, Pete Werner has gone from being very good to completely impactless in 2 seasons.

I’d say Bresee, McKinstry, Taylor (if he’s moved to safety), Olave, Fuaga, McCoy and Shaheed are at least league average starters or could be with the right coaching. That’s 7 players which is hardly anything.

Any player under 30 to me is younger talent. JJ shows flashes. And when Miller has played he has shown very good flashes . You can throw in Granderson as well. Both Werner and DD suffer from a BAD DL especially DTs we can fix that with a good draft. NO team has depth enough to withstand the amount of INJURIES we had this yr

 

[St. Geezy]

Read my post again. Yes, I watched this season, hence “zero depth”.

Harris is 29, Johnson is 28 and not very good. Neither of them are young talent. Kendre Miller has played about 6 games in 2 seasons, Pete Werner has gone from being very good to completely impactless in 2 seasons.

I’d say Bresee, McKinstry, Taylor (if he’s moved to safety), Olave, Fuaga, McCoy and Shaheed are at least league average starters or could be with the right coaching. That’s 7 players which is hardly anything.

Would you trade our roster for the Patriots’ roster if you had the opportunity?

 

[Snakehead]

Would you trade our roster for the Patriots’ roster if you had the opportunity?

I'll take our roster all day over the Patriots roster.

 

[WhoDat6278]

Would you trade our roster for the Patriots’ roster if you had the opportunity?

Yes, on the basis that they look to have a franchise QB. Outside of QB and ignoring the cap difference, then no. Ours is slightly better, but not to the extent that it should cost so much more.

 

[Rexman100]

Let's keep it real, most fans here are just speculating and have zero idea of what goes on in NFL circles. Yes, we all have been down on our team for a few season now, but think about it. An owner that doesn't meddle. Some real talent on the team, especially if Rattler grows. Rabid fan base. I think what most are overlooking is a chance for a coach to come in and no pressure, but really be able to build a team. Just my opinion.

Also, we spend money and give contracts without blinking an eye. If we can get to about 40 m under the cap, that’s all we’d need.

 

[St. Widge]

Not trying to “spin” anything. Just saying that having a ton of cap space is an indication that your team is horrible and you’re going to have to spend a ton on free agents, which has been a trap for many teams in that position that keep remaining in that cycle.

The teams with moderate space offer the most ideal roster opportunities.

If you have $131m in space, your cupboard is BARE and you will have to overspend a lot if you have dreams of using a ton of it. That’s fact, not opinion.

In addition, when agents know that a team has a ton of cap space they try to squeeze those teams for every penny which means they end up over paying and giving bad contracts. Obviously you want to have cap space, but cap space is better spent on signing the good young players you drafted to second contracts, not trying to build a roster with big signings. The other use is to fill holes so you don't have to reach for certain positions in the draft to fill needs.

 

[Patman255]

The Saints have several things that make the job attractive:

1) Stable front office, that still won a superbowl and was a perennial contender in the 2010s. Coaches don't want to get married to GMs that are on shaky ground. Like it or not, Loomis is perceived is being in a very stable position as a GM. Realize that a new coach is looking to survive the next 3 years and hitching their wagon to a GM on their last legs is going to make a job very unappealing.

2) Ownership is fantastic. We have an owner that does not meddle in football affairs but is also willing to finance the front office's decisions. Realize that the Loomis method involves paying more money up front in signing bonuses to leverage future cap years (that should be growing to account for this leverage) for current gain.

3) Loomis's strategy is ideal for giving a head coach ample opportunity to build a roster and be competitive in free agency. Using restructures to use future year's cap for today's players is exactly what a head coach looking to survive a short time frame wants. This strategy maximally allows for "winning now" relative to NFL peers. Again, the coach is trying to just weather the storm of a transition and get to the three year mark. This is a lot harder to do on a team where the FO is conserving cap space, pinching pennies, etc.

4) We don't have a QB. I know this seems like a negative, but this actually allows our next head coach the chance to "get their guy" as opposed to being stuck with whatever had already been drafted and invested in. We know Carr is likely looking into just one more year in NOLA. Rattler has potential but is not so heavily invested in that a coach couldn't move on easily. It's very likely that the next head coach is being given the "green light" to draft their QB of the future in 2026. On the other hand, imagine New England's situation. You have to really like the Maye situation there, because you're inheriting him as your QB during all of those first 3 critical years and if that experiment fails all those years, you're probably out of the job on the back of a QB you didn't get to pick.

 

[0rion]

We're an NFL team....every one of those jobs are coveted.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Not sure why so many Saints fans consider her a subpar owner.

I remember Sean saying something to the sense of her not being seen as a strong owner in league circles. He felt the owners in Denver would have more sway to back him up than she would, whether true or not.

 

[NatureBoy]

The Saints might not be a good football opportunity for MMc, but it's a good food town, and Mike doesn't miss many meals.

 

[NatureBoy]

Yeah clearly this guy isn’t familiar enough with the Patriots roster. Now THAT is a garbage roster.

If there is a less attractive job than the Saints, it's the Patriots. Kraft is lost without Brady and Belichick. They do have a young franchise QB though. I like Maye more than anyone we have (for the long term). I'd like to see him play with some quality offensive weapons around him.

 

[St. Geezy]

The Saints have several things that make the job attractive:

1) Stable front office, that still won a superbowl and was a perennial contender in the 2010s. Coaches don't want to get married to GMs that are on shaky ground. Like it or not, Loomis is perceived is being in a very stable position as a GM. Realize that a new coach is looking to survive the next 3 years and hitching their wagon to a GM on their last legs is going to make a job very unappealing.

2) Ownership is fantastic. We have an owner that does not meddle in football affairs but is also willing to finance the front office's decisions. Realize that the Loomis method involves paying more money up front in signing bonuses to leverage future cap years (that should be growing to account for this leverage) for current gain.

3) Loomis's strategy is ideal for giving a head coach ample opportunity to build a roster and be competitive in free agency. Using restructures to use future year's cap for today's players is exactly what a head coach looking to survive a short time frame wants. This strategy maximally allows for "winning now" relative to NFL peers. Again, the coach is trying to just weather the storm of a transition and get to the three year mark. This is a lot harder to do on a team where the FO is conserving cap space, pinching pennies, etc.

4) We don't have a QB. I know this seems like a negative, but this actually allows our next head coach the chance to "get their guy" as opposed to being stuck with whatever had already been drafted and invested in. We know Carr is likely looking into just one more year in NOLA. Rattler has potential but is not so heavily invested in that a coach couldn't move on easily. It's very likely that the next head coach is being given the "green light" to draft their QB of the future in 2026. On the other hand, imagine New England's situation. You have to really like the Maye situation there, because you're inheriting him as your QB during all of those first 3 critical years and if that experiment fails all those years, you're probably out of the job on the back of a QB you didn't get to pick.

Great post.

On one hand, some may think a coach may look at our cap situation as bleak and see it as a deterrent, but it’s very possible that coaches look at our cap situation as “Hey, this team really goes ALL OUT to get coaches what they want and will do everything in their power to keep their best players.”

I also rest comfortably knowing that during these interviews, Mickey (and Khai, if he’s involved) would be able to explain the cap situation - what we do, why we do it, the actual ledger’s immediate and long term destinations, how much space we will actually have as opposed to what’s presented to the public currently, etc. - in a very detailed and eloquent way to quell fears.

 

[St. Geezy]

Also, we spend money and give contracts without blinking an eye. If we can get to about 40 m under the cap, that’s all we’d need.

Yep…we actually could create a crazy amount of space this off-season without even cutting anyone and stack more guys on top of the current roster if we wanted to.

We have so much money available to us in the form of future year dollars. It’s a never-ending rollover cycle.

The money is there. It’s always there. You have to do it responsibly and also not have crazy bad injury luck and bad coaching, but the accounting ledger almost
always has wiggle room for player acquisition if you’re doing it in an organized fashion, always looking 3+ years ahead.

People are criticizing the team’s current roster and depth this past year while not acknowledging that they intentionally held off on going all out last off-season so that they can get the cap back to a better future mean level they desire.

We can make nearly $100m in cap space this off-season without cutting a single guy. We won’t, because who needs that much cap space, but we could.

Our cap space is in the future, while most teams’ is in the present. This will be explained in interviews with actual ledger data and coaches will see what I have been preaching - it doesn’t matter. What matters is who you acquire and who you draft, and staying healthy.

The “salary cap” is merely a pesky accounting project, not a gigantic hinderance giving some teams huge advantages over others.

 

[ilvdsnts]

I think the Saints job is definitely among the top 6 job openings in the NFL.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

We don't have a garbage roster.

Uh, yeah we do.