In her Scoop City podcast, the Athletic’s Dianna Russini says she heard Eagles OC Kellen Moore initially had some reservations about the Saints’ head coaching vacancy because of concerns about QB Derek Carr.
“There was a little scuttlebutt about whether or not Kellen would want this job,” Russini said via USA Today’s John Sigler. “And it’s due to the fact they don’t have a quarterback there already in place, that was concerning.”
There’s no getting around that the Saints have had some issues with their coaching search due to not being perceived as a favorable head coaching vacancy. New Orleans missed on its top choice, Aaron Glenn, and had Bills OC Joe Brady withdraw from consideration. Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury didn’t even interview with the Saints.
However, Russini adds Moore has come around on the job. He’s currently the favorite to be hired by the Saints after the Super Bowl and Russini says she’s heard it’s because the team has told him expectations won’t be high initially.
“With that being said I think he’s come around on it from what I was hearing, ‘Maybe this is the right spot for me.’ They do (have Carr under contract). But there’s also an understanding throughout the league that the New Orleans Saints need another year to rebuild this thing. They’re in cap hell. And they’re comfortable understanding that. They know their limitations. They’re not expecting Kellen Moore to come in here, let’s just say and get the job, and turn this whole thing around. They know they need someone who’s patient with them.”
At the end of the season, Saints GM Mickey Loomis vouched for Carr but acknowledged whoever was hired at head coach would have a significant voice in how the team handled the quarterback position going forward.
The Saints can theoretically cut Carr this offseason if they decide it’s time to move on. However, that would sharply curtail their options with the rest of the roster due to not being able to restructure his current 2025 cap hit.
Carr, 33, is a former second-round pick of the Raiders back in 2014. He was in the final year of his contract when the Raiders signed him to a five-year, $125 million extension that included $70 million guaranteed in 2017.
Carr stood to make a base salary of $19.77 million in the final year of his contract and was set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2023 when he signed a three-year, $121.5 million extension.
However, the Raiders released Carr the following season and he signed a four-year, $150 million deal with the Saints.
In 2024, Carr appeared in ten games for the Saints and completed 68.1 percent of his passes for 1,926 yards, 14 touchdowns, and four interceptions.
Moore, 36, originally signed on with the Lions as an undrafted free agent out of Boise State back in 2012. Detroit elected to move on from Moore at the start of the 2015 season and later signed on to the Cowboys’ practice squad.
Moore missed the entire 2016 season with a broken ankle but he later returned to Dallas. After being waived in 2017, the Cowboys added him to their practice squad for the remainder of the season.
From there, Moore made the decision to join the Cowboys as their QB coach and end his playing career in 2018. Dallas later promoted him to offensive coordinator for the 2019 season and he retained the position through a coaching change.
However, he and McCarthy later elected to mutually part ways and the Chargers hired Moore as offensive coordinator in 2023. Moore joined the Eagles as an offensive coordinator when the Chargers hired HC Jim Harbaugh before the 2024 season.
In 2024, the Eagles ranked No. 7 in points per game, No. 8 in yards per game, No. 29 in passing yards and No. 2 in rushing yards.
We’ll have more on the Saints and Carr as the news is available.
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