I will start this article out by stating that I personally do not dislike any of the candidates the Saints are looking at, and while I have preferences toward who may be the better or worse candidates, there is not one in particular that doesn’t have a reason to become a head coach. That said, the New Orleans Saints are now down another candidate, as Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady has chosen to stick with his current team rather than pursue the Saints head coaching gig.
This leaves the Saints with six viable head coaching candidates: Anthony Weaver, Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore, Darren Rizzi, Mike Kafka, and maybe Kliff Kingsbury. Three of these coaches have completed in-person interviews so far (Weaver, Kafka, and Rizzi) with the other three expected to look at doing so within the next week. Their top option Aaron Glenn passed on them too.
Now that Brady is off the table and there are only six candidates remaining, a choice will have to be made sooner rather than later, and while I have been a strong proponent for McCarthy or Kingsbury previously, it seems Weaver may be the best fit for the team.
When you take a look at the Miami Dolphins defense from 2024, it was one of if not the most under appreciated units in the entire sport, producing in both run defense and pass defense. While it was by no means perfect, when it comes down to it, it was high quality and was near other premier defensive units in the league statistically.
When it comes to pass defense, they were among the best ten groups in passing yards allowed (9th), passing touchdowns allowed (6th), passing first down percentage allowed (tied-5th), 20-plus yard passing plays allowed (3rd), and completion percentage allowed (9th).
On the run defense side they are also efficient, ranking among the best ten in rushing yards allowed (9th), rushing touchdowns allowed (tied-7th), rushing first downs allowed (6th), and rushing yards per game (9th).
The one issue they had predominantly was generating sacks, as they had the 6th least with 35. This is something that could potentially be fixed under Saints defensive line coach Brian Young with a full offseason to work with that group as their leader, or with a new defensive coordinator of Weaver’s choosing.
While choosing another defensive coach is not the flashy option, he is on the younger side at 44 years old (younger than McCarthy, Rizzi, and Kingsbury) and has proven to be effective at creating a quality defensive unit. The question would be who is the offensive coordinator to make the play calls, whether it be Klint Kubiak or otherwise it will be an intriguing decision to make. Regardless, turning to Weaver at this juncture may be the Saints best bet.