It’s bad enough that the New Orleans Saints couldn’t even get Aaron Glenn into town for an in-person interview for their head coaching job. The added detail that Glenn gave the organization a thanks-but-no-thanks before accepting the offer the New York Jets gave him should be a big red warning flag for general manager Mickey Loomis and the organization he’s built.
Glenn was in the building just a few years ago. Sentimentality wasn’t a part of this; he spent his last year as a player with the Saints, having begun it with the Jets. And his five years as a position coach under Sean Payton and Dennis Allen was insightful. When the opportunity to occupy the same desk both those men owned before him came up, Glenn considered his options and chose to pass on it.
And that’s a huge indictment of Loomis and the team. He effectively is the team. He’s the longest-tenured general manager in the NFL. He’s held his post for decades. He’s either hired everyone in the building or sat in on their interviews whether that was weeks, months, or years ago. His fingerprints are on everything, and the situation he’s made is so unappealing that Glenn would rather fight off the New York media while reporting to the mercurial Woody Johnson and his teenaged sons than come work with him.
It’s easy to see why the situation Loomis is responsible for is unappealing. The Saints have some difficult salary cap decisions to make and lack the resources to sign impactful free agents this spring. They’re effectively tied to Derek Carr for the next year or two; love him or loathe him, he’s one of six active quarterbacks who have been in the NFL for at least 11 years without winning a playoff game. Of that group (Carr, Geno Smith, Andy Dalton, Tyrod Taylor, Brian Hoyer, and Blaine Gabbert) he’s the only one playing on a contract with $100 million or more guaranteed. Smith is next-closest at $40 million.
Big changes are needed in New Orleans. Loomis has played too fast and loose with the team’s draft picks and salary cap resources for too long, and now it’s really hurting the team. Glenn choosing to try his luck on a laughingstock like the Jets is just proof of that. It’s also proof that the Saints are getting laughed at around the league, too.
