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This Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, New Orleans Saints fans like me will be pulling for the Denver Broncos in the opening round of the NFL playoffs as they play the Bills.
The 10-7 Broncos are led by former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. Sunday’s game marks Denver’s first playoff appearance in nine years since the Broncos won the NFL title during the 2015-2016 season.
After that Peyton Manning-led Broncos Super Bowl season, the Denver Broncos have relieved four previous head coaches of their duties.
The Broncos were sold a few years ago to heirs of the Walton (as in WalMart) family fortune. They wasted no time in hiring a proven winner in head coach Sean Payton.
Now concluding his second season in the Mile High City, Payton has accomplished his second amazing turnaround of another NFL franchise.
Sean Payton and Drew Brees built the New Orleans Saints into winners
In 2006, the New Orleans Saints hired Sean Payton (then Offensive Coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys) for their head coaching vacancy. In fact, Saints current General Manager Mickey Loomis gets the credit for that hiring in New Orleans.
The previous year, Hurricane Katrina knocked the Saints out of the Superdome as the facility was seriously damaged. The 2005 Saints finished a woeful 3-13. The team was forced to play some of its home games in Baton Rouge (at LSU’s Tiger Stadium) and others in San Antonio at the AlamoDome.
Along with Coach Payton, the Saints acquired quarterback Drew Brees from the Chargers beginning in 2006. The Saints came marching back into the Superdome, finished a remarkable 10-6 regular season and advanced to the NFC Championship game before losing at Chicago.
Three years later, Coach Payton’s 2009 Saints brought New Orleans its first and only Super Bowl title after a 13-3 regular season.
Sean Payton was the toast of the town – and still is
After 16 mostly successful years in New Orleans, Coach Payton surprised nearly everyone along the Gulf Coast in early 2022 by announcing his retirement from coaching. For the next year, he was a studio analyst with Fox Sports.
That didn’t last very long.
One year later in January, 2023, the wealthy new Denver Broncos ownership group announced the hiring of Sean Payton as the team’s new head coach.
Payton inherited a Denver team which had finished 5-12 in 2022. They were also saddled with a long-term $50 million annual contract for an aging prima donna quarterback named Russell Wilson.
Sean Payton’s first year in Denver produced a mediocre 8-9 record.
It also proved to the head coach (a former quarterback in college at Eastern Illinois) that Russell Wilson had to go. Wilson’s skills were diminished, and the team’s locker room wasn’t thrilled with him, either.
Prior to this season, Sean Payton sent Russell Wilson to the Pittsburgh Steelers and had to “eat” most of his $50 million guaranteed annual salary. However, the Broncos’ head coach wanted to reboot his team with his own new quarterback – much like he did with Drew Brees in New Orleans.
Enter Bo Nix
Knowing that Russell Wilson wasn’t the answer at quarterback for the Broncos, Coach Sean Payton drafted former Auburn and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix as the sixth quarterback selected in the first round of last spring’s NFL draft.
Quarterback Bo Nix and coach Sean Payton immediately bonded – just like Drew Brees did with his new coach in New Orleans.
The Denver Broncos finished 10-7 this year and will play at 13-3 Buffalo on Sunday afternoon (12 Noon CST on CBS). A nine point underdog, the Denver Broncos have nothing to lose as their coach and young quarterback are squarely on the same page.
What happened to the New Orleans Saints after Sean Payton left?
Since Sean Payton “retired” after the 2021 football season, the Saints have gone 7-9, 9-7, and now 5-12 this year.
First, the Saints promoted Payton’s defensive coordinator into the top job. That was mistake #1.
Dennis Allen just never seemed to have a clue about how to manage the team’s offense, though. He was fired in early November, 2024 after the Saints lost seven games in a row and were 2-7.
Another former Sean Payton hire, special teams coach Darren Rizzi was asked to take over the Saints in mid-season.
The well-liked Rizzi led the team to a 3-5 finish. Rizzi is considered to be a top contender for the permanent head coaching assignment in New Orleans.
Other than hiring Sean Payton in 2006, what has Saints GM Mickey Loomis done?
As we have covered recently, NFL coaches often take the blame and get fired for posting losing records.
However, the true villain is usually the team’s General Manager. The coach can only manage those players selected and signed to long-term contracts by the team’s General Manager and owner.
New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis has been in charge of this team since former owner Tom Benson (a car dealer) hired him in 2002. Loomis (an accounting major who also played basketball in college) later assisted Mr. Benson in his acquisition of the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) NBA franchise in 2012.
As the Saints’ 22-year veteran General Manager, Mickey Loomis is the primary architect of the Saints’ personnel.
He makes the final decisions for the NFL draft, free agent acquisitions, and contract negotiations for the pay and tenure for each player on the squad. He is also the person in charge of hiring and managing the team’s coaching staff.
A look at the Saints top picks in the past ten years of Mickey Loomis’ time in New Orleans reveals a litany of average-to-mediocre selections in Round 1.
In the past ten years, the Saints first round picks have included:
2024 – Taliesa Fuaga – #14 overall – Offensive tackle (starter)
2023 – Bryan Bresee – #29 overall – Defensive tackle (back-up player this year)
2022 – Chris Olave – #11 overall – Wide receiver (starter)
2021 – Payton Turner – #28 overall – Defensive end (back-up player this year)
2020 – Cesar Ruiz – #24 overall – Center (starter at right guard this year)
2019 – No first round selections
2018 – Marcus Davenport – #14 overall – Defensive end – now with Lions
2017 – Marshon Lattimore – #11 overall – Defensive back – traded to Washington 11/24
2017 – Ryan Ramczyk – #32 overall – Offensive tackle – Injured/did not play in 2024
2016 – Sheldon Rankins – #12 overall – Defensive tackle – now playing for Cincinnati
2015 – Andrus Peat – #13 overall – Offensive tackle – signed with Raiders 5/24
The Saints have used their first round pick to obtain a talented offensive weapon (Chris Olave – 2022) just one time over the past ten seasons.
That may be an indicator of why the 5-12 New Orleans Saints finished 24th out of 32 NFL teams in points scored (19.9 ppg) this fall.
Defensively, the 2024 New Orleans Saints finished 19th by allowing 23.4 points per game. Those other 13 NFL teams which finished below New Orleans on defense allowed even more points.
None of those teams are in the playoffs beginning this weekend.
Black and Gold salary cap woes, too?
Next season, the NFL’s salary cap rises to an incredible $275 million per team. For those teams which exceed that amount, an additional penalty is going to be assessed by the NFL for going over the salary cap.
Right now, the New Orleans Saints are the second highest paid NFL team (behind woeful Cleveland) with $341 million due this fall.
After posting a pitiful 5-12 record this season, who is going to be paid the most money next season down in Who(Dat)Ville?
Overpriced quarterback Derek Carr (acquired by GM Mickey Loomis) is on the books for over $51 million in 2025.
An undrafted free-agent from Brigham Young, oft-injured role player Taysom Hill (whose contract was extended by Loomis) is set to be paid $18 million next year.
Both players are now in their mid-30’s and represent more than 25% of the cash set to be paid to the team’s 53-man roster.
Who signed these two players to expensive long-term deals? Yep.
The Saints need to hire a new head coach soon. Should Mickey Loomis be allowed to do it?
The trends for the New Orleans Saints are pointing in the wrong direction.
Since the retirement of future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Drew Brees after the 2020 season and departure of head coach Sean Payton a year later, the Saints have been sinking quickly.
A losing record for the team is one thing but seeing a decline in fan loyalty due to team mismanagement is another. Loud and proud Saints fans have kept the faith while we have observed our favorite NFL team sink in the standings for several seasons and descend in national relevance.
Former owner Tom Benson didn’t know very much about pro football prior to acquiring the Saints back in 1985.
He hired Mickey Loomis away from the Seattle Seahawks organization and trusted him to build the football team.
Yes, Saints were able to achieve the team’s ultimate goal – a Super Bowl title for the city of New Orleans – on that glorious day in February, 2010. GM Mickey Loomis deserves a share of the credit for being a part of those successful years for the Saints.
But Saints team owner Tom Benson passed away in 2018.
His wife, Gayle Benson, is now in charge. Sadly for Saints fans, Mrs. Benson may trust GM Mickey Loomis more than us card-carrying lifetime members of the WhoDatNation do.
Remember – former Saints coach Sean Payton left the Crescent City for some reason. He quickly returned to coaching one year later in Denver and already has his new team in the playoffs this Sunday.
After Sean Payton left New Orleans, the Saints haven’t sniffed the playoffs since.
If Mrs. Benson opts to trust General Manager Mickey Loomis to clean-up the mess which he is primarily responsible for creating in New Orleans, expect to see more of us Saints fans sporting Orange Crush-colored Denver Broncos merchandise in the coming months.
Geaux, Broncos!