Saints Owner Calls Idea of Firing Mickey Loomis 'Ridiculous,' Says GM Does 'Great Job'

Despite being on the verge of missing the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis still has the backing of ownership.

In an interview with Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Saints owner Gayle Benson dismissed the "ridiculous" notion from fans that Loomis should be fired.

"It may not be what the fans want to hear, but as far as firing Mickey Loomis, that's ridiculous," Benson said. "(He) does a great job."

Benson also noted she holds Loomis in "high esteem" and remains "pleased" with the job he is doing.

There's not an argument on merit for Loomis to have job security right now. The best you can say for him is the Saints have had two winning seasons fairly recently, when they finished 9-8 in both 2021 and 2023.

On the whole, though, there are few NFL franchises that have been more poorly managed than the Saints. Loomis has frequently overextended his cap spending, forcing the team to restructure contracts that ate into future years.

Some of the cap expenditures could be explained when they still had Drew Brees and were trying to extend their title window with him, but they had to keep doing it years afterward when Derek Carr was their quarterback.

For example, even though Carr retired in May, he will still have a $36.7 million dead cap hit for the Saints in 2026.

Some of the notable players the Saints have lost in free agency because they couldn't afford to keep them due at least in part to their cap issues include Trey Hendrickson, Sheldon Rankins, Von Bell, Alex Anzalone, Terron Armstead, Marcus Williams and Zack Baun.

Loomis' recent track record in the draft also leaves a lot to be desired.

The Saints' offensive line ranks in the bottom six in the NFL in ESPN's pass-block and run-block win rate metrics this season, despite having invested their last two first-round picks to address that area (Kelvin Banks in 2025, Taliese Fuaga in 2024).

Trevor Penning, the No. 19 overall pick in 2022, was traded last week to the Los Angeles Chargers for a sixth-round draft pick in 2027.

There just don't appear to be many long-term building blocks in New Orleans right now. The Saints will remain in cap hell for at least one more year, as they are currently $12.3 million over the projected 2026 cap.

Loomis has been with the Saints after being hired as director of football administration in 2000. He was promoted to general manager in 2002 and added the title of executive vice president in 2013.

The Saints had their longest period of sustained success from 2006 to '20 when Loomis was able to sign Brees as a free agent, including winning a Super Bowl title during the 2009 season.

In the years since Brees' retirement, though, Loomis has been unable to piece things together to get the Saints back into the top tier of NFC teams. Their 7-20 record since the start of 2024 is tied with the New York Jets for the fifth-worst in the NFL.