Saints Fire Dennis Allen: NFL’s Coaching Carousel Spins Early

The 2024 NFL regular season will reach its halfway point Monday night, but the league’s dramatic—and expensive—coaching carousel is already in full swing.

The Saints fired Dennis Allen on Monday, becoming the second team to make a change midseason, following the Jets dismissing Robert Saleh last month. Allen was in the third season of a four-year contract he signed in 2022 after Sean Payton stepped down (before ultimately having his rights traded to the Broncos in 2023). The value of Allen’s deal is unknown, but head coach contracts typically pay at least $3 million or $4 million annually—and New Orleans will likely be on the hook for the remainder of his pay this season and the next one.

Allen was 18–25 as the Saints’ head coach, including this season’s 2–7 start. His last game was Sunday’s 23–22 loss to the Panthers, who had one win on the season coming in.

It’s the first midseason firing for the Saints since the franchise was purchased by Tom Benson in 1985. Gayle Benson has led the team since her husband died in 2018, and longtime EVP and GM Mickey Loomis will continue to run football operations.

Crunching the Numbers

New Orleans named special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi interim head coach, but will in all likelihood hire a new full-time coach after the season. Most pressing for the next leader will be the dire salary cap situation the Saints are in.

The Saints are currently $77 million over a projected $273 million salary cap for the 2025 NFL season—the highest in the league, according to Spotrac. That includes a team-high $51 million cap hit for quarterback Derek Carr, who is in the third season of a four-year, $150 million contract. Defensive end Cam Jordan has a $23.9 million dead cap hit, and it’s very possible he’ll retire before his age-36 campaign considering he’s collected two sacks since the start of the 2023 season.

Belichick Watch?

A second NFL head-coaching vacancy after just nine weeks of the season is a solemn reminder of the job’s high turnover rate. After last season, eight of the league’s 32 teams changed coaches.

Bill Belichick, whose 333 career wins (including playoffs) rank second to the late Don Shula’s 347, could be in line for a new job in 2025, after being fired by the Patriots in January and getting only one interview with the Falcons. The six-time Super Bowl–winning head coach is staying in the spotlight this fall, starring on the ManningCast, The Pat McAfee Show, Inside the NFL, and other media properties.