The New Orleans Saints announced the firing of Dennis Allen Monday morning. It’s the first time New Orleans has fired a coach in the middle of the season since firing Dick Nolan in 1980. This move signifies the beginning of a rebuild the Saints have been eluding for a couple of years.
When Sean Payton retired, the Saints replaced him with Allen, an in-house candidate. That’s not something you do when you’re even pondering a rebuild. After an unsuccessful campaign, Allen went to grab is old quarterback, Derek Carr, from the Las Vegas Raiders.
Grabbing a veteran quarterback who you feel can elevate your immediate future is also not something to do when considering a rebuild. The roster wasn’t good at that point, but the Saints fought it. There’s no more fighting. Firing Dennis Allen is essentially waiving the white flag.
The new head coach may decide to move on from older players and eat a lot of dead money to get a full restart in his second year. Offensive and defensive approaches will change and you will likely see a different prototype of players on the defensive line specifically.
The Saints have been under Dennis Allen’s offense for the better part of a decade. The new coach is going to bring his guys in, which will lead to a different style of defense.
Everything will be different around New Orleans in 2025. After fighting the rebuild for years, the Saints are about to dive head first into one, and it started with firing the head coach.
