Mickey Loomis held a somewhat odd press conference Friday. The Saints' general manager addressed the future of both his current and former coach, Dennis Allen and Sean Payton.
Regarding Allen, Loomis said he will be back for a second season as the Saints' head coach in 2023. Allen, 50, went 7-10 during his first season as the Saints' head coach in 2022. He spent the previous six seasons as the team's defensive coordinator under Payton, who stepped down after the 2021 season following a highly successful 16-year run in New Orleans.
After a year away from the sideline, Payton -- whose current contract with the Saints runs through the 2024 season -- is expected to fill one of the NFL's vacant head coaching positions. Loomis, who said he has given the Texans, Cardinals and Broncos permission to speak with Payton, said any team that wants Payton must first agree to compensation on a trade before negotiations can start.
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Regarding the 2022 Saints, Loomis said there was obvious disappointment. This past season marked the Saints' first losing season since 2016 and just the seventh losing season since Loomis became the team's GM in 2002.
Injuries to key starters and a lack of cohesion that comes with having a new coach and quarterback were among the main reasons for the Saints' lack of success last season, Loomis said. The Saints had Andy Dalton, a former Pro Bowler who was a part-time starter in Dallas and Chicago the previous two seasons, under center for the majority of their games this season. Former All-Pro receiver Michael Thomas was among the Saints' starters who missed significant time this season due to injuries.
"7-10 wasn't what our expectations were coming into the season," Loomis said. "We didn't make the playoffs, so obviously we're not happy about that.
"And yet, I also thought that, man, there was a lot of really positive things that happened during the course of the season that give me optimism going forward."