METAIRIE, La. -- New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis was asked 41 minutes into an end-of-season press conference whether the decision to fire former coach Dennis Allen midway into a 5-12 season was "admitting a problem."
"Absolutely," Loomis said. "But that isn't just the coach. We've got to look at ourselves. I've got to look at the way I'm operating. I've got to look at the way that all of us in football operations were operating, all the way down to ... the injury issue. All the things that contribute to a successful program, you have to evaluate."
He added: "It doesn't mean by the way, if the results aren't what we want, doesn't mean we're doing something wrong. It means we have to look at all of it and be honest with ourselves. 'Hey we didn't do a good job in that area. We've got to do better. How can we do better?'"
Loomis had been optimistic for most of the first 40 minutes of the session. But his tone was different than his end-of-season news conference last year when he read off prepared notecards to defend Allen, giving examples of Hall of Fame coaches who took several seasons to turn things around.
He said he doesn't regret the comments despite firing Allen less than 10 months later. Allen said recently on Jay Glazer's podcast that Loomis wasn't in favor of the move.
"I don't want to get into that other than, it was an organization decision and I'm part of the organization," Loomis said.
The Saints' major question is how to turn the franchise around, especially as they face a crossroads after missing the playoffs for the fourth straight season. The team's lack of success, cap issues and aging stars are just some of the setbacks as it searches for a new head coach.
Loomis, in particular, has drawn scrutiny as the longest-tenured general manager in the league, having been in his role since 2002. Only Cincinnati Bengals player personnel director Duke Tobin and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have been in similar roles for longer than Loomis, who has repeatedly said he isn't thinking about a role change or retirement.
"I've got a passion for the sport. I've got a passion for the Saints. I've got a passion for all of it. I feel like, look, I've got all my faculties here," he said, laughing. "If I ever felt like my acumen or my ability to think and ability to do the things necessary in this job were waning, I'd be the first guy to say, 'Hey, wait a minute.' So no, retirement's not on my mind. Get back to the playoffs and winning football, that's what's on my mind."
New Orleans has not made the playoffs since the 2020 season when Drew Brees retired and a season before Sean Payton's departure. The Saints will also enter another offseason with salary cap issues -- likely needing to clear at least $50 million in cap space to become compliant.
They also hold the No. 9 pick in the draft -- potentially impactful, but not necessarily enough to take a top quarterback without moving up. That leaves them with a question about who starts in 2025, as current starter Derek Carr currently counts $51.4 million against the cap and is due $40 million in cash this offseason. Loomis said he has a high level of confidence in Carr, who has gone 14-13 as a starter and missed seven games due to two separate injuries in 2024.
"It's not like we have the first pick of the draft. ... Now that doesn't guarantee anything in the draft and we haven't gone through the draft process, and so I like a lot of things that Spencer [Rattler] did during the season," Loomis said. "I like Jake Haener. I like Derek. So we've got options, we've got things that we're going to evaluate, things that a new coach is going to have on his plate to evaluate and then we'll have a collective vision."
The Saints also have an aging roster to contend with -- eight of their Week 1 starters will all be at least 30 if they return in the 2025 season -- and six of those players represent some of the highest salary cap figures on the team. Some of those players, like Taysom Hill, will be rehabbing injuries this offseason.
Loomis, who has never liked using the term "rebuild," was again reluctant to use it.
"'Rebuild' ... means different things to different people. I think that you can turn around a season pretty quickly in the NFL," Loomis said. "We've seen it with other teams and there's a lot of good things on our roster and there's some things that we need to adjust and fill in. Part of that is going to be the viewpoint, the vision that the new head coach has. So there's a lot of questions there I can't answer."
"A collective vision" is one of the things Loomis said he was looking for as he leads the coaching search along with assistant general managers Khai Harley and Jeff Ireland and player personnel director Michael Parenton. The Saints will also have help from former Las Vegas Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler and former Saints general manager Randy Mueller, both working as advisors.
The Saints have already conducted several interviews over video conference with New York Giants offensive coordinator Mika Kafka, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Miami Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver. They are expected to have more and put in requests to speak with Buffalo Bills OC Joe Brady, Philadelphia Eagles OC Kellen Moore and Washington Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury.
New Orleans interim coach Darren Rizzi will also interview. The team is also expected to have interest in former Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who was the Saints offensive coordinator from 2000-04.
When asked how he would sell the organization to a potential candidate, Loomis said that wasn't the right wording.
"It's a matter of right fit. I don't think 'selling' is the right [term]," Loomis said. "I don't think we need to do that. We can answer questions certainly, and there's going to be questions about how each coach, each candidate is going to have things that are important to them and they're going to want to understand those things from us, and we'll answer those. We'll be transparent.
"The right thing to do is not try to sell, the right thing to do is lay out what you are, what your vision is, on both sides and make sure that we can have a collective vision. That's how we're going to be successful, not going to be selling."