Moore Hope for Saints

By Jim Gazzolo

Four days after throwing football’s biggest party, the Saints began cleaning up their mess left by a season gone wrong.

Thursday, they introduced their new football coach, Kellen Moore, who is fresh off a Super Bowl championship.

Moore never even had to leave town after he helped the Philadelphia Eagles to a championship last Sunday over Kansas City.

Moore was the young offensive coordinator of the Eagles who decided against returning to Philadelphia for an encore. Instead, he will begin the dirty work of rebuilding a Saints team that seems lost in the pro football wildness. 

He will have to deal with an aging roster, a quarterback question, and some salary cap issues, all while knowing he was not the team’s or fans' first choice. 

Moore takes over a job many other head coaching candidates wanted no part of for those reasons, one stuck in the past and did not change general managers despite recent poor seasons.

However, Moore does understand the city he now calls home.

“We are so excited to embrace the food side of this wonderful community,” Moore said Thursday when he met the media. “Certainly, we’ve had a couple of king cakes already. So, we’re ready.”

Moore says he wants to build the Saints the right way after they cratered with a 5-12 season, their worst in two decades. 

“Faith, family, and football is what this thing is all about, and those priorities never change,” Moore said. “I think when you get to team up with special people, you get to do special things. 

“I’m really excited about the opportunity. I want to lead this team the right way.” 

At 35, Moore is only one year older than his presumed starting quarterback, Derek Carr. However, his future with the team is still unclear. Carr was injured most of last season after getting off to a tremendous start for two games.

Carr is part of the Saints’ financial issues. He is under contract for two more years, and his salary-cap hits will be $51 and $61 million over those seasons. Therefore, the team must make a decision moving forward. 

“I view it as Derek Carr is a tremendous starting quarterback in this league,” Moore said. “We're fortunate to have him, and we're excited to go through this process as we build this roster together.”

The Saints currently are last in the NFL in salary-cap space. They are projected to be around $60 million over the cap, with most of that in dead-cap money. 

That indicates that it has to be taken down before the roster is rebuilt. So expect an offseason of cap cuts before there are any. 

All the news, however, is not as grim for the Saints faithful. The NFC South is not the toughest division in football by any means, meaning a quick turnaround is not entirely out of the question. 

And then there is the hope of history. 

The last time the Saints were in this position, they hired a young offensive gun who teamed with Loomis to make New Orleans a winner. They even won a Super Bowl, the only one in franchise history.

That young coach was Sean Payton. 

We all know that move worked out well.

Those are huge expectations to hope Moore could have the same success, but at this point, hope is all the Saints have.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles.