Saints' Loomis preaches patience after retaining Allen

New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis defended the decision to retain head coach Dennis Allen on Wednesday and is asking for patience as the team tries to rebound from a disappointing season.

"The easiest thing to do is look at the results and say, 'Oh no, we've got to have a change.' You've got to look beyond that," Loomis said, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

He added: "What are the reasons why we were 9-8 instead of 13-4? It's collective, it's the players, it's the coaches, it's me, it's the personnel staff, our roster, it's variables sometimes we don't have any control of. My assessment is Dennis Allen is a good coach."

The Saints finished second in the NFC South with a 9-8 record. They rallied to win four of their last five contests after a 5-7 start but ultimately fell short of making the playoffs for a third straight season. Allen was promoted to head coach after Sean Payton retired for one campaign in 2022. He was previously the defensive coordinator under Payton for seven years.

Allen's tenure as head coach got off to a rocky start as the club went 7-10 in his first season. The NFC South combined for a 29-39 record, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking the division crown by going 8-9.

"With Sean Payton we went 10-6 the first year, but then we were 7-9, 8-8, I heard some of the same noise, but at the time I knew we had a good football coach," Loomis said.

"I think sometimes the hard thing to do is be patient and recognize some of your other shortcomings and get those fixed. That's what we're doing."

New Orleans will have to make several moves this offseason, as the club currently has minus-$82 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap.