Anyone who has been around the NFL as long as Mickey Loomis is going to have decisions they’re proud of and others they regret, but the New Orleans Saints general manager’s decision to let Trey Hendrickson walk away in free agency stands out as a massive blunder.
Hendrickson is closing in on his third consecutive Pro Bowl nod with the Cincinnati Bengals this season, having racked up 13.5 sacks. That’s more than the entire Saints defensive line put together: Carl Granderson (6.5), Nathan Shepherd (2.5), Cameron Jordan (2), Bryan Bresee (1.5), and Tanoh Kpassagnon (0.5) have combined for 13 sacks.
Loomis and the Saints rationalized that they could let Hendrickson leave in free agency and earmark the salary cap resources saved by letting him go for other players — namely star free safety Marcus Williams. But they were unable to agree to terms on a long-term deal and, after playing out the 2021 season on the franchise tag, Williams left in free agency a year later. On top of that, the Saints would have gotten a valuable compensatory draft pick for losing Williams (like they did for Hendrickson) but they wiped it out by signing quarterback Andy Dalton.
Of course the Williams-or-Hendrickson question was only part of the conversation. The Saints were steadfast in their belief that Marcus Davenport was going to step up in Hendrickson’s place, but his potential never materialized and he left in free agency a few years later without a fight. They drafted Payton Turner to replace Davenport and he hasn’t gotten it done, either.
So who is to blame? Does Loomis really deserve all of the criticism here? He’s the general manager and executive vice president of the team and ultimately all calls fall on him. But Sean Payton and Dennis Allen might have dirty hands here, too. Payton always had a lot of say in personnel decisions. Allen was influential on his side of the ball before being promoted to head coach, too. He would rather draft oversized defensive ends who can stop the run and call in a blitz when he needs to get pressure, so it’s easy to speculate that he was in the pay-Williams-instead camp.
Ultimately the Saints didn’t get anything they wanted out of this situation. They lost a talented player at one of the game’s most important positions as well as another young defender they drafted, developed, and prepared to play for another team. Now they have a defense that struggles to pressure quarterbacks, a series of NFL draft busts, and a fraught salary cap outlook without the benefits of stars in their prime like Hendrickson.
Payton isn’t in New Orleans any longer. Allen may not be long for the city, either, if he can’t get his squad into the playoffs with the easiest schedule and worst division in pro football for a second year in a row. That leaves Loomis as the last one to catch any heat for this whole debacle. It won’t cost him his job, but it’s an easy omen to look to when he’s being outperformed by his peers around the league.
