Saints ‘expected’ to hire Kellen Moore as new head coach. Now a tall task awaits

Ralph Vacchiano

NFL Reporter

Kellen Moore restored the power and energy to the Eagles‘ offense during his one year in Philadelphia. Now he gets to tackle a much tougher task.

He has to rebuild the New Orleans Saints.

That monumental task is his now that the 36-year-old has been tabbed to become the Saints next head coach, according to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz. Moore is “expected” to accept the position barring “any unexpected developments,” per ESPN. He’ll take over a team that went 5-12 last season, has missed the playoffs four straight years, and has an aging roster and more salary cap issues than any team in the NFL.

Moore had emerged as the clear favorite in New Orleans over the past few weeks, but his hiring can’t become official until after his Eagles play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.

That game, of course, will be played in New Orleans, making this the second straight Super Bowl for the Eagles where they will be leaving a coordinator behind after it’s over. Two years ago, after they lost Super Bowl LVII to the Chiefs in Glendale, Arizona, their defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon stayed behind to become the Arizona Cardinals‘ next head coach.

And once Moore officially leaves, the Eagles will be forced to look for their fourth offensive coordinator in four years.

Moore was a good one, too. The Eagles’ offensive issues were a huge part of their problems during their infamous 1-6 collapse at the end of the 2023 season, which forced head coach Nick Sirianni to fire offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and replace him with Moore. Under Moore, and with the notable addition of free-agent running back Saquon Barkley, the Eagles had the eighth-ranked offense in the NFL and averaged 27.2 points per game.

Moore, a former backup quarterback with the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys, has had similar success before. In just his second year as an assistant coach, he was promoted to offensive coordinator in Dallas under Jason Garrett in 2019 and turned the Cowboys into the No. 1 offense in the NFL. When Mike McCarthy was hired in Dallas, he kept Moore on board, and in two years with a healthy Dak Prescott (2021-22) the Cowboys were one of the top four scoring teams in the league, averaging 29.3 points per game.

After McCarthy decided to take over the playcalling himself, Moore left in 2023 for the Los Angeles Chargers, where his offense struggled, especially with quarterback Justin Herbert missing four games. But he obviously bounced right back in Philadelphia, so much so that once McCarthy was fired in Dallas, Moore looked like he was going to be a top candidate there.

But the Cowboys never called. Meanwhile, the Saints’ search fell apart. They figured to have interest in Mike Vrabel, but didn’t get a chance to interview him before he took the New England Patriots job. Ben Johnson, now the Chicago Bears coach, had no interest in the job either.

And four of the Saints’ remaining top candidates pulled out of the search before they made a decision. Aaron Glenn declined a second interview so he could take the New York Jets head coaching job. Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady bowed out after his virtual interview. McCarthy removed himself after his first interview. And Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury declined to accept an interview at all.

The Saints did interview Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka twice. They also conducted a courtesy interview with interim Saints coach Darren Rizzi.

But when a Saints contingent flew to Philadelphia to meet with Moore on the Monday night after the Eagles beat the Commanders 55-23 in the NFC Championship Game, their final intentions seemed clear.

Moore now gets to work with longtime Saints general manager Mickey Loomis to clean up a mess that has gotten progressively worse since Sean Payton’s successful run in New Orleans ended after the 2021 season. They fired Payton’s replacement, Dennis Allen, midway through this past season and things didn’t get any better under Rizzi. They had the third-worst defense in the NFL and averaged just 19.9 points per game.

But their biggest problem is that they are currently projected to be about $54 million over the 2025 salary cap, according to OverTheCap.com, which means they won’t have the ability to fix their roster quickly. They are also likely stuck with 33-year-old quarterback Derek Carr, who seems to be on the decline and is signed through the 2026 season. He’s due to count for $51.5 million against their cap, and cutting him or trading him would leave $40-50 million in dead money behind, with not much cap savings at all.

They do have the ninth overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, though that’s not likely high enough to find Carr’s replacement anyway. So Moore is inheriting a team with a lot of holes and not many assets available to fill them, meaning his rebuilding project in New Orleans is likely to take several years.

Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.