The New Orleans Saints haven’t reached the playoffs since their legendary quarterback Drew Brees retired in 2020. They finished with an abysmal 5-12 overall record in 2024 and fired their head coach Dennis Allen in the middle of the season.
The Saints are yet to find their new head coach, and with the change in leadership, some shuffling is guaranteed on the field, too. However, Brees isn’t entirely supportive of a rebuild.
Drew Brees Believes New Orleans Saints Have Strong Foundation
The Saints fired Allen following Week 9 after a seven-game losing streak. While his successor, interim head coach Darren Rizzi, managed a 3-5 record, the Saints are looking for a new candidate and Brees is confident that they will find the best one.
“I think there are a lot of great candidates out there,” Brees said. “Whether we go in-house, whether we go outside to the rest of the NFL to find our next head coach, I know that there is a process in place with our GM, Mickey Loomis, and the organization to find that best candidate.”
The future Pro Football Hall of Famer (eligible in 2026) had previously backed Aaron Glenn for the job but the former New Orleans defensive back went to the New York Jets. Now, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is being reported to be the front-runner for the job.
As far as New Orleans goes, Brees doesn’t think it needs a rebuild. He blamed the Saints’ dismal 5-12 record on the injuries and said it derailed their momentum after starting the season strong. The Saints finished 22nd in PFN’s Offense+ metric in 2024, despite the missed time.
“[They are] not rebuilding or anything. I think we have good pieces in place on both sides of the ball to take the next step and really be a contender,” Brees said. “I think we showed what we could be like last year, especially those first few games where we were totally healthy. Unfortunately, after that, we were decimated due to injury and were not a healthy team. It was just hard to recover. Once you’ve lost all of your playmakers on offense.”
The Saints started their season with back-to-back landslide victories against the Carolina Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys before injuries took them off the tracks.
They were without key contributors including Erik McCoy, Chris Olave, Taysom Hill, and Derek Carr several times through the season. The effect of injuries on the Saints’ 2024 season is further evidenced by the fact that they won five of the 10 games where Carr played and lost every other game.
