There’s some movement: the Jacksonville Jaguars hired Doug Pederson as their new head coach, taking him out of consideration for the same job with the New Orleans Saints — Pederson, the Super Bowl-winning former Philadelphia Eagles coach, was the first candidate to interview with New Orleans. Now he’s working with second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
And this move brings some ramifications for the Saints. Beyond taking Pederson off the board, his arrival to Jacksonville also frees up Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to pursue other opportunities. Leftwich was the other finalist for the Jaguars job, and while the Saints were given permission by Tampa Bay to interview him no meeting has been scheduled yet.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Friday that while the Saints, “also put in for Byron Leftwich, he did not end up taking the interview,” which makes it sound like he isn’t interested. Maybe he’s changed his mind now that Jacksonville is off the table, but it’s also possible that Leftwich intends to stay with the Buccaneers now that Tom Brady has retired, putting head coach Bruce Arians’ future in doubt. He’d be a natural successor if Arians re-enters retirement.
Another thing to consider is whether any Saints coaches will be recruited by Pederson in Jacksonville. When meeting with the Saints he surely would have discussed which assistants he would have wanted to retain or put into different roles. Pederson is already evaluating options to build his Jaguars staff, and it’s very possible he liked the idea of working with some New Orleans coaches enough to try and bring them aboard. The Saints are going to hire their own head coach sooner or later and some guys could be on the move. We shouldn’t be shocked if Pederson poaches some of them.
