Dennis Allen picked up the mantle after Sean Payton left the New Orleans Saints in 2022. However, after his seventh straight loss, the 52-year-old has been fired.
The football world reacts not only to this firing but the $89 million conundrum that the Saints find themselves in amidst this heartbreaking season.
The Removal of Dennis Allen Highlights the Saints’ Cap Space Issues
After starting the season 2-0, the Saints had to deal with a ton of injuries to their roster, including Derek Carr. Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, during his appearance on ESPN’s First Take, was sympathetic to this issue but did not cut any slack for the cap space fiasco.
“The salary cap is real,” he said. “This is a walking example of how impactful constantly kicking the can down the road with the salary cap is. This team is $89 million over the cap for next season already. This is a bad situation when it comes to a rebuild not only as a head coach but as you remake your roster.”
.@danorlovsky7 and @stephenasmith react to the Saints' decision to fire head coach Dennis Allen ✍️ pic.twitter.com/OPEtwEC6FN
— First Take (@FirstTake) November 4, 2024
While Stephen A. Smith acknowledged the massive burden that cap space will put on the Saints’ plans to rebuild, he argued that Allen led them to this situation. “When you see some of the talent they have, there is no excuse for them to look this bad,” he said. “You have players on the New Orleans Saints that an abundance of coaches in this league would love to be coaching.”
“Those players who we respect have indicated, ‘Look at the coaching.’ And they’ve never done it before. They certainly never did it in all the years that Sean Payton was there,” added Smith.
Allen ended his tenure as the Saints HC with an 18-25 record over three seasons.
Darren Rizzi Set To Replace Dennis Allen as Interim Head Coach
With Allen getting axed, Darren Rizzi has received a promotion and will take over as the interim head coach for the Saints. Rizzi previously worked with the Miami Dolphins and was hired during the tenure of Payton as the special teams coordinator in 2019.
In 2022, as Allen was elevated from the rank of defensive coordinator to head coach, Rizzi became the assistant head coach alongside his responsibilities as special teams coordinator.
The Saints have less than a 1% chance to make the playoffs this season. For their Week 10 clash, the Saints will welcome the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 11.