The New Orleans Saints finished 9-8 and closed out their season with double-digit wins over a pair of divisional rivals.
Still, there's no denying that a third consecutive playoff miss leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of the entire team and front office, as Saints GM Mickey Loomis explained to Mike Hoss this week on WWL.
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Saints GM Mickey Loomis in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"I think it was a very realistic goal to have double-digit wins and to win the division was very realistic and we didn’t get that accomplished, and so overall I would say it was just a disappointing season," Loomis said. "I do like ... that we won four out of the last five, finished really strong. We saw a number of times, a number of games where, look, it looked like a good performance offense, defense and special teams. So that’s encouraging. But we’ve got to be able to do that consistently throughout an entire season.”
Along with general inconsistency, one running theme of this season has been outbursts or displays that at times overshadowed results. That included QB Derek Carr yelling at teammates and coaches, center Erik McCoy berating his QB on the field, Michael Thomas appearing to tweet criticism at this QB in multiple instances, the list goes on. But the moment that has been harped on the most recently came in the final minutes of a 48-17 beatdown of the Falcons.
The coaching staff sent in the call for the victory formation and kneeldown. The offense proceeded to line up in the victory formation, then proceed to hand the ball to Jamaal Williams for a touchdown that set off a firestorm of criticism once head caoch Dennis Allen confirmed it was a freelanced decision.
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"I think we should’ve kneeled it down, yes. I understand what the players did. I don’t think it was malicious on their part," Loomis said. "They’re just trying to do something for a teammate. I completely understand that, there’s nothing malicious about it, yet I wish it hadn’t happened. I don’t think it’s the right thing. I don’t think, look, I think it’s been made a bigger deal of than it needs to be, and yet I don’t think — I think sportsmanship is a good thing to talk about."
That's been the messaging from the players as well, many of whom have come out in support of QB Jameis Winston on social media, who was playing quarterback at that point with the game well in hand. The players insisted that it was exclusively about getting a TD for their teammate and not to make a statement by defying the coaching staff. Still, that's been the statement perceived and shared by many analysts around the NFL, some louder than others. Loomis stands with his players and head coach in that regard.
"That’s just people making comments to make comments. It’s stupid to say that," Loomis said. "There’s not one player that would say that. ... They were just trying to do a favor and do something good, what they perceived as good for a teammate, and nothing to do with defying the head coach or anything like that. That’s just silly. That’s just overthinking.”
Regardless of how that moment is perceived across the NFL, all signs point to Allen being brought back for another season as head coach. Both he and the GM have made clear that this year's finish wasn't good enough, but the late-season charge and emergency of several young playmakers in the process -- particularly on offense -- has the front office feeling optimistic. Changes will be made, but it's clear the general feeling is that the team is trending upward and that with the proper adjustments that will continue in 2024.
"I’m excited for next season already, which typically it doesn’t happen for me for a few weeks, but I just see the possibilities that we have," Loomis said. "I’m excited about it, and actually I’m kind of anxious to get going on next year, even this soon, which may sound a little odd, but I’m excited about our prospects. I really am, and I hope that — I know that our staff is. I know that our players are, and we’ve got some work to do and so let’s get to it.”
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MORE FROM LOOMIS
On Bryan Bresee's development
"I think he definitely has the abilities that we all thought he had. I think he’s probably a little rawer in terms of development than what we originally thought he might be. I think the light did kind of come on the last half of the season. I think he’s been well coached. I think Todd and Bryan Young have done a really good job with him and we see the progress. I hope that he doesn’t feel satisfied, because he’s got — he’s still got a long way to go and yet, man, we see these flashes and we see these things that he can do and we just want more of it.”
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On Trevor Penning
"It’s an important offseason for him, and yea, we’ve got to — we’ve got to give him, we’ve got to put him in a situation to be successful. We’ve got to help him with his development, his confidence. He’s got the ability to be a really good player in our league, but we’ve got to enable that by giving — putting him in the right environment, giving the right development and we’ll do that. We will do that.
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"I think the biggest issue for us was man, he was hurt half of his first season. He didn’t have a real offseason this last year, and so, you know, he’s behind in development, but it’s not really his fault. It wasn’t his fault that he got hurt. It wasn’t his fault that this offseason he was unable to do the things that you normally get to do going into your second year, and so we probably threw him out there a little too soon and it was unfair, so we’ve got to get that corrected.”
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On meeting with players following end of season
“I did do that. I don’t do it very often, and it’s really a message just to the players, and so I’m gonna leave it at that. I’m trying to set the tone for what we expect going forward and I thought it was well received.”
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On plans at No. 14 in the 2024 draft
“I think it’s actually a good spot. We’re 9-8 and I think there were five or six teams that were 9-8 and we get to pick first of all those 9-8 teams. We could’ve been picking 20th. I’d much rather pick 14th than 20th, because .. it’s a good spot to -- hey, we can move up a few spots if we need to at not too expensive a cost, and we might be able to slide back. I know I never slide back, but we may be able to slide back and put something up and we could still get an equivalent payoff, so I kind of like the spot. And look, from what I’ve seen so far, I think this is a pretty deep, pretty good draft class. So we’re gonna get some, not just one good player, we’re gonna get some good players in this deal and where and what position and all that remains to be seen. But I know we’re gonna improve our team.”