Saints Team Notes

[New Orleans Saints]

See the latest news about your New Orleans Saints.

 

[New Orleans Saints]

Derek Carr was conspicuously absent throughout New Orleans' Super Bowl week

It’s been hard to miss all the New Orleans Saints players making the rounds in the media this week. Many of them were quarterbacks — backups like Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener either shook hands and took photos with fans at the Super Bowl Experience event at the Caesars Superdome or promoted their sponsorship partners on various podcasts and radio shows. Drew Brees was a popular interview on that same circuit. FOX Sports gave Jameis Winston a microphone and a camera crew and told him to be himself.

All of this makes Derek Carr’s absence highly conspicuous. Fan favorites of yesteryear like Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham, Thomas Morstead and Mark Ingram II were all out and about, either chopping it up with the media or just taking in the atmosphere. So were current players like Bryan Bresee, Blake Grupe, Ugo Amadi, Demario Davis and Cameron Jordan. But not Carr. Sure, his future with the team is in doubt, but that’s also true for guys like Amadi and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who aren’t even under contract next season. They still showed up.

So where was he? Carr told reporters a month ago how eager he was to get back to Fresno, Calif. with his wife and four children: “Excited for my kids to have a place they can call ‘home, home.’ We’ve moved a lot and they’ve been asking me ‘where are we going to grow up forever?’ We told them Fresno and now we get to do that.”

Carr went to college at Fresno State and will be living in the same area as his older brother David, who told the local ABC affiliate he’ll also be training there while preparing for the 2025 season. So he’s presumably been busy with the move and getting settled in at his family’s forever home.

Still, it’s really disappointing to see so many prominent members of the team, past and present, doing their part to show off New Orleans. All eyes are on the city ahead of the biggest football game of the year. The quarterback Carr replaced (Winston) has been around, just like the guy whose legacy he’s been chasing (Brees). Both of his backups (Rattler and Haener) made the effort or were at least compelled by their sponsors to show up. Carr couldn’t be bothered to even fly in for a day to chat on Radio Row.

When the Pelicans drafted Zion Williamson, Brees delivered a short message to him: If you love New Orleans, this city will love you back. Carr hasn’t done that often enough. Regardless of how you feel about how well he’s played on the field (for his part, Carr felt strongly enough about it to get out in front of any talk about taking a pay cut), doing work in the community or recording positive radio hits will go a long way. Something as small as recommending his favorite restaurant or some other small local business would win a lot of goodwill. It’s a shame that wasn’t a priority for him.

More Derek Carr!​

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Source: https://saintswire.usatoday.com/202...ek-jameis-winston-drew-brees-spencer-rattler/

 

[New Orleans Saints]

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni makes Hail Mary try at retaining Kellen Moore

“Let’s run this s— back, Kellen.”

Nick Sirianni after winning Super Bowl LIX

(

FOX) pic.twitter.com/yMO5lvrX8Z

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 10, 2025

You can’t hate a guy for trying. With another Super Bowl victory in hand and grinning players and coaches all around him, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni took a moment to try and sustain his success a little longer.

Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore put on a show in Sunday night’s runaway win over the Kansas City Chiefs, as did veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Sirianni thanked both of them in his postgame speech but he also made a last-second, maybe halfhearted plea to Moore with green confetti raining down around him from the postgame stage.

“Kellen, you know, let’s run this (expletive) back, Kellen,” Sirianni laughed, preparing to accept the Lombardi Trophy. “Let’s run this back.”

Moore’s looming departure for the New Orleans Saints has been the elephant in the room all week. It’s been repeatedly reported that Moore is expected to become the Saints’ next head coach now that the Super Bowl is behind him, but nothing is guaranteed until he’s signed his contract. Moore will fly back to Philadelphia on Monday with the Eagles and celebrate their championship win a little longer before turning his attention back to New Orleans.

So Sirianni will have some time to work to keep his team together. Let’s see if it makes a difference.

More!​

Kellen Moore's stunning Super Bowl blowout is a big Saints selling point​

Kellen Moore will fly back to Philly after the Super Bowl​

ESPN: Kellen Moore to accept Saints job 'barring an unexpected breakdown'​

Saints legend compares lead head coach candidate to Sean Payton​

Saints free agent rejoining his former coach may be his 'best fit'​

Source: https://saintswire.usatoday.com/202...-moore-saints-job-update-super-bowl-reaction/

 

[New Orleans Saints]

One play from Super Bowl LIX may show Kellen Moore's mindset

During the Philadelphia Eagles’ rout of the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, there was one particular play and decision that stood out the rest.

The Eagles were leading the Chiefs 27-0 in the third quarter. By this time, there was a feeling the game was over. Kellen Moore didn’t take his foot off the gas. On the first play after a Kansas City turnover on downs, Jalen Hurts threw a bomb to DeVonta Smith, who appeared to be the primary target.

Moore is expected to be the New Orleans Saints head coach. He worked under Nick Sirianni and Brandon Staley in his last two stops. Both of those coaches are known as very aggressive decision makers on critical downs. Staley became infamous for his propensity to go for it on fourth down.

If you mix dialing up a shot play to completely ice the biggest game of the year with the potential influence of his last two head coaches, there’s reason to believe Kellen Moore would be aggressive as a head coach.

That could entail more fourth down conversions. While the Saints and Eagles attempted the same amount of fourth down conversions, 27, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume the two stats were accumulated in different ways. The Saints were often in situations where they had to go for it on fourth down.

That’s not aggression. On the same note, Philadelphia likely used the Tush Push/Brotherly Shove, depending on how you prefer to reference it, on many fourth down attempts.

That may not be part of the Saints offense, so it leaves you to wonder what aggresssion from Moore would look like in New Orleans. That’s an unknown, but it likely won’t be unknown for long if he accepts the job.

Source: https://saintswire.usatoday.com/202...bowl-59-highlights-kellen-moore-saints-coach/

 

[New Orleans Saints]

Former NFL head coach takes priority in Saints DC search

We’re all waiting for the assumption that Kellen Moore will be the New Orleans Saints head coach to become a reality. If it does become reality, The Athletic’s Michael Silver expects Moore to have “strong interest in former Chargers coach Brandon Staley as his defensive coordinator.” That sentiment has been shared by reporters at other outlets, including ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Adam Schefter.

There’s a direct connection between Moore and Staley. Moore’s lone year with the Los Angeles Chargers was Staley’s last season. Clearly things didn’t work out the last time Staley and Moore paired up, with Staley being fired after Week 15.

If Moore and Staley reunite with the Saints, it would be a role reversal for the duo. For the Saints’ sake, they’ll have to hope Moore overseeing the team and having Staley’s isolate his focus on the defense is a greater recipe for success.

Staley wasn’t highly successful, but having a former head coach on your coaching staff can still be valuable for a young coach in the same position. It gives him a voice to lean on in different moments. And like we’ve seen with Steve Spagnuolo and Dennis Allen, Staley may have been at his best working as a defensive coordinator rather than a head coach himself. The extra time and attention he can spend working on his side of the ball makes a difference.

More!​

Alontae Taylor makes a big plea to Kellen Moore on social media​

Update: Saints-Kellen Moore deal 'is now agreed to and done'​

Breaking: Saints finalizing deal with Kellen Moore to become their new head coach​

One play from Super Bowl LIX may show Kellen Moore's mindset​

Report: Derek Carr would have multiple suitors on the open market​

Source: https://saintswire.usatoday.com/202...e-coordinator-brandon-staley-nfl-news-rumors/

 

[New Orleans Saints]

Kellen Moore hired a former Saints head coach's son to his staff

Here’s a cool story. Kellen Moore coached with Chase Haslett on the Dallas Cowboys, and now they’re together again on the New Orleans Saints — the team Haslett’s father led to their first-ever playoff win. Jim Haslett’s son has gone on to put together a fine career for himself as an NFL coach, and NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports he and the Saints have reached an agreement on a deal making him their new tight ends coach.

Haslett, 32, is seen as a coach on the rise. He began his coaching career with the Cowboys as an offensive quality coach back in 2020, and was promoted to assistant tight ends coach in 2023. Last season Mike McCarthy promoted him again, this time to pass game coordinator. Now he’s earned the full-time gig with McCarthy out in Dallas and a new opportunity opening up in New Orleans. He previously worked as a graduate assistant at Nebraska and Mississippi State, and coached tight ends at Mercer College in 2019.

This was an important hire for Moore to get right. Tight ends are vital weapons in his offense. Since his first year as an offensive coordinator, he’s asked a past-his-prime Jason Witten to handle 83 targets in 2019 with Dalton Schultz seeing 89 in 2020, 104 in 2021, and 89 again in 2022. Gerald Everett was thrown to 70 times on the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023, and while he was limited by injury in 2024, Dallas Goedert still had 72 targets across 14 combined regular season and playoff games with the Philadelphia Eagles.

And it remains to be seen who will take the lion’s share of targets for the Saints in 2025. Juwan Johnson is a free agent and Foster Moreau suffered a serious knee injury in the final game of the year. Taysom Hill is recovering from a bad knee injury, too, and his future with the team is uncertain. Don’t be shocked if the Saints look to the 2025 draft class for help at an important position.

More Kellen Moore!​

Takeaways from Kellen Moore's first press conference as the Saints HC​

Kellen Moore-to-Saints is a surprising 'full circle' moment for the former QB​

Kellen Moore tiptoes around the Derek Carr question in his first Saints press conference​

Gayle Benson pledges 'full commitment' to supporting new head coach Kellen Moore​

How to watch Kellen Moore's introductory press conference as Saints head coach​

Source: https://saintswire.usatoday.com/202...-cowboys-dallas-goedert-eagles-injury-update/

 

[New Orleans Saints]

Saints hire another college coach, former NFL linebacker, to work with Brandon Staley's defense

The New Orleans Saints are hiring California Golden Bears defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon to come work as their new linebackers coach, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. He’s another new arrival with few connections to the old Sean Payton-Dennis Allen regime, and will work as a position coach under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.

Sirmon, 48, was a fourth-round pick by the Tennessee Titans back in 2000 and played for them until 2006. A former linebacker himself, he’s continued to coach that position at a number of college stops over the years — he overlapped with Terry Joseph, the Saints’ new defensive pass game coordinator, when they were both on staff with the Tennessee Volunteers in 2010 and 2011.

He’s been at Cal since 2018, though, and has worn a number of hats as an associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, while coaching both inside and outside linebackers at different times. Back in 2019 he was recognized as the college Linebackers Coach of the Year by FootballScoop. Now he’s turning pro.

More Uncategorized!​

Kellen Moore says whether he'll return for the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl victory parade​

Kellen Moore won more games at the Superdome than Dennis Allen this season​

Cowboys hire running backs coach away from Saints coaching staff​

And now Mike McCarthy has pulled himself out of the Saints head coach search​

Bills OC Joe Brady 'honored' to be considered for Saints head coach​

Source: https://saintswire.usatoday.com/202...er-sirmon-california-berkley-nfl-rumors-news/