Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season

AsylumGuido · 11-10-2023, 09:34 AM

Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season

JOHN HENDRIX
UPDATED: 16 HOURS AGO ORIGINAL: 17 HOURS AGO

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis lended the media some of his time on Wednesday to talk about the state of the team and where they're at after the midway point of the season. Here's some of the biggest takeaways, notes, and quotes from our talk with him.

ON OFFENSE NOT CLICKING YET

Loomis agreed with the way fans have felt about the offense out of the gate, saying that, "It's never fast enough." The team is still looking for that 60 minutes of offensive football that they've been used to seeing. That's the bar for the Saints.

"I think some of it is, look, we've got a lot of new parts offensively, right? We haven't had a game where you walked out of the stadium and sit down and say, 'Man, we did well on offense. We did well on defense and we did well on special teams. All three.' No game's perfect, you're always going to find faults in every game. But even in the New England game, I felt like we left some stuff on the field offensively."

"We've had halves where we've played well on one side of the ball or the other, and then the other half we didn't. We just haven't had those games that we've all become accustomed to over the last 16 years where we've had a really good game in all phases of the game. I think it's coming because I think we're capable. We've seen stretches where we've done well in each phase and yet, we haven't had a game in where we've been able to say that. Part of that is that we have a lot of new parts, particularly on offense."

Loomis cited the offseason preparation as a point to look at to figure out where they could do better early in the season, but also was quick to point out that Derek Carr is just getting started and drew a parallel to another Saints quarterback's first years.

"We're nine games into the Derek Carr era here. So, it's no surprise that we're not always on the same page. Go back and look at Drew's (Brees) first 10-12-16 games, I think you'll be a little surprised at, 'Oh, wasn't as good as I remembered,' but we won right? We won right out of the gate. But then look at the next year and the next. It wasn't perfect. That was an evolution."

STATE OF THE OFFENSIVE LINE

Loomis didn't shy away from saying that they expect more from the group. The team has really focused on trying to build from the inside out and have invested a lot of draft and cash capital in the group.

Read the rest here ...

iceshack149 likes this.

iceshack149 · 11-10-2023, 01:18 PM

Loomis makes valid points and I find the overall gist of his remarks acceptable. I know the Saints have played some meager halves of football but I can hope that as the team finds its footing it will become a great team and hit their stride before the playoffs. The players are there. The coaches aren't stupid, they just don't have an appearance of masculinity and they don't seem to know when to use the correct play designs often in games.
That said, they're slowly gaining my trust but the foundation of that trust is very weak.

Also, I'm glad that there are hard asses out there as fans making sure that Loomis, Mrs. Benson and the coaches know that we all want excellence and with the talent on this team we expect excellence.

iceshack149 · 11-13-2023, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by iceshack149

Loomis makes valid points and I find the overall gist of his remarks acceptable. I know the Saints have played some meager halves of football but I can hope that as the team finds its footing it will become a great team and hit their stride before the playoffs. The players are there. The coaches aren't stupid, they just don't have an appearance of masculinity and they don't seem to know when to use the correct play designs often in games.
That said, they're slowly gaining my trust but the foundation of that trust is very weak.

Also, I'm glad that there are hard asses out there as fans making sure that Loomis, Mrs. Benson and the coaches know that we all want excellence and with the talent on this team we expect excellence.

K Major · 11-13-2023, 10:13 AM

This man says the same thing every week.

The "Mickster" should be on the hot seat.

Unfortunately nothing will change until you start seeing a decline in ticket sales and empty seats on Poydras Street.

BakoSaint · 11-13-2023, 10:46 AM

Drew Brees first year he was coming off a major surgery, the entire teams coaching staff was new, all the receivers, RBs, etc were learning a new system too, Brees was only a few years into his pro career, and Brees was on a prove it contract with an easy one year escape clause where the team could get out in one year if it failed. Derek Carr is not coming off a surgery, he is 10 year veteran, he has worked with this head coach before, except for Carr the offense has been in place for years under the same OC and none of the receivers are new. But stupidly we signed Carr to a 'you already proved it' contract that is will be very costly to ever get out of.

The reason that Mickey Loomis is still all in on Derek Carr is that Loomis' cap wizardry relies 100% on restructuring all the biggest contracts every year. If you cut a player, you cannot restructure their contract, and all the dead cap hits. Carr is our biggest contract. If we don't restructure him this offseason we barely get under the cap and there is no magic for adding any medium-big free agents. Once we we have restructured him and made those additions, we find ourselves in a similar predicament for 2025 with tons of dead cap if we move on then. Loomis' current cap management has no room for mistakes. So Derek Carr is Drew Brees and Carlos Ruiz is Jahri Evans, because thats what its got to be to keep the liquor cabinet in Loomis' office stocked. Does Mickey Loomis look sober to anyone in that photo?

Also this whole you win some you lose some we just haven't had all the pieces clicking at once lets be patient crap with our super weak schedule is how you tolerate mediocrity and eventually become a doormat.

MatthewT · 11-13-2023, 11:35 AM

I get what Loomis is saying about Brees needed time to gel, but lets not forget since the very first snap Brees took it was obvious he was a significant upgrade over Brooks and Bouman. Now when you look at Carr, so far he is not an upgrade over Dalton, and only a minimal upgrade over Winston, Hill, and Siemian.

neugey · 11-13-2023, 12:15 PM

Since Loomis is driving this thing, he needs to spend more time looking at the windshield and less time looking in the rearview mirror. Low key he's become a coward without Payton.

Rugby Saint II · 11-13-2023, 12:58 PM

Carr isn't the problem, as much as the offensive play caller is(Carmichael) and our gutless head coach Allen---formerly, affectionately known as DA.

Fire Dennis Allen!

hitta · 11-13-2023, 01:45 PM

With how awful our offensive playcalling is, it's impossible to give a fair evaluation to Carr.

Pete · 11-13-2023, 02:09 PM

Get this s*** back on track Mickey! 😡

11-10-2023, 09:34 AM	#1
AsylumGuido 10000 POST CLUB Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bossier City, LA Posts: 26,666	Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Twitter JOHN HENDRIX UPDATED: 16 HOURS AGO ORIGINAL: 17 HOURS AGO Saints general manager Mickey Loomis lended the media some of his time on Wednesday to talk about the state of the team and where they're at after the midway point of the season. Here's some of the biggest takeaways, notes, and quotes from our talk with him. ON OFFENSE NOT CLICKING YET Loomis agreed with the way fans have felt about the offense out of the gate, saying that, "It's never fast enough." The team is still looking for that 60 minutes of offensive football that they've been used to seeing. That's the bar for the Saints. "I think some of it is, look, we've got a lot of new parts offensively, right? We haven't had a game where you walked out of the stadium and sit down and say, 'Man, we did well on offense. We did well on defense and we did well on special teams. All three.' No game's perfect, you're always going to find faults in every game. But even in the New England game, I felt like we left some stuff on the field offensively." "We've had halves where we've played well on one side of the ball or the other, and then the other half we didn't. We just haven't had those games that we've all become accustomed to over the last 16 years where we've had a really good game in all phases of the game. I think it's coming because I think we're capable. We've seen stretches where we've done well in each phase and yet, we haven't had a game in where we've been able to say that. Part of that is that we have a lot of new parts, particularly on offense." Loomis cited the offseason preparation as a point to look at to figure out where they could do better early in the season, but also was quick to point out that Derek Carr is just getting started and drew a parallel to another Saints quarterback's first years. "We're nine games into the Derek Carr era here. So, it's no surprise that we're not always on the same page. Go back and look at Drew's (Brees) first 10-12-16 games, I think you'll be a little surprised at, 'Oh, wasn't as good as I remembered,' but we won right? We won right out of the gate. But then look at the next year and the next. It wasn't perfect. That was an evolution." STATE OF THE OFFENSIVE LINE Loomis didn't shy away from saying that they expect more from the group. The team has really focused on trying to build from the inside out and have invested a lot of draft and cash capital in the group. Read the rest here ... iceshack149 likes this.
	“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

11-10-2023, 01:18 PM	#2
iceshack149 1000 Posts + Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fairbanks, AK Posts: 4,426 Blog Entries: 1	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Loomis makes valid points and I find the overall gist of his remarks acceptable. I know the Saints have played some meager halves of football but I can hope that as the team finds its footing it will become a great team and hit their stride before the playoffs. The players are there. The coaches aren't stupid, they just don't have an appearance of masculinity and they don't seem to know when to use the correct play designs often in games. That said, they're slowly gaining my trust but the foundation of that trust is very weak. Also, I'm glad that there are hard asses out there as fans making sure that Loomis, Mrs. Benson and the coaches know that we all want excellence and with the talent on this team we expect excellence.
	"...it's good to have friends, no matter where they are."--JOESAM2002

11-13-2023, 09:55 AM	#3
iceshack149 1000 Posts + Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Fairbanks, AK Posts: 4,426 Blog Entries: 1	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Originally Posted by iceshack149 Loomis makes valid points and I find the overall gist of his remarks acceptable. I know the Saints have played some meager halves of football but I can hope that as the team finds its footing it will become a great team and hit their stride before the playoffs. The players are there. The coaches aren't stupid, they just don't have an appearance of masculinity and they don't seem to know when to use the correct play designs often in games. That said, they're slowly gaining my trust but the foundation of that trust is very weak. Also, I'm glad that there are hard asses out there as fans making sure that Loomis, Mrs. Benson and the coaches know that we all want excellence and with the talent on this team we expect excellence.

11-13-2023, 10:13 AM	#4
K Major Site Donor 2019 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Bedford, TX Posts: 24,838 Blog Entries: 3	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season This man says the same thing every week. The "Mickster" should be on the hot seat. Unfortunately nothing will change until you start seeing a decline in ticket sales and empty seats on Poydras Street.

11-13-2023, 10:46 AM	#5
BakoSaint 1000 Posts + Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,400	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Drew Brees first year he was coming off a major surgery, the entire teams coaching staff was new, all the receivers, RBs, etc were learning a new system too, Brees was only a few years into his pro career, and Brees was on a prove it contract with an easy one year escape clause where the team could get out in one year if it failed. Derek Carr is not coming off a surgery, he is 10 year veteran, he has worked with this head coach before, except for Carr the offense has been in place for years under the same OC and none of the receivers are new. But stupidly we signed Carr to a 'you already proved it' contract that is will be very costly to ever get out of. The reason that Mickey Loomis is still all in on Derek Carr is that Loomis' cap wizardry relies 100% on restructuring all the biggest contracts every year. If you cut a player, you cannot restructure their contract, and all the dead cap hits. Carr is our biggest contract. If we don't restructure him this offseason we barely get under the cap and there is no magic for adding any medium-big free agents. Once we we have restructured him and made those additions, we find ourselves in a similar predicament for 2025 with tons of dead cap if we move on then. Loomis' current cap management has no room for mistakes. So Derek Carr is Drew Brees and Carlos Ruiz is Jahri Evans, because thats what its got to be to keep the liquor cabinet in Loomis' office stocked. Does Mickey Loomis look sober to anyone in that photo? Also this whole you win some you lose some we just haven't had all the pieces clicking at once lets be patient crap with our super weak schedule is how you tolerate mediocrity and eventually become a doormat. iceshack149 and MatthewT like this.
BakoSaint 1000 Posts + Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 2,400

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11-13-2023, 11:35 AM	#6
MatthewT 1000 Posts + Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Mississippi Posts: 2,729	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season I get what Loomis is saying about Brees needed time to gel, but lets not forget since the very first snap Brees took it was obvious he was a significant upgrade over Brooks and Bouman. Now when you look at Carr, so far he is not an upgrade over Dalton, and only a minimal upgrade over Winston, Hill, and Siemian. neugey and Rugby Saint II like this.

11-13-2023, 12:15 PM	#7
neugey Hu Dat! Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,869 Blog Entries: 13	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Since Loomis is driving this thing, he needs to spend more time looking at the windshield and less time looking in the rearview mirror. Low key he's become a coward without Payton.

11-13-2023, 12:58 PM	#8
Rugby Saint II Bounty Money $$$ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 5800 Airline Dr. Metairie, LA. Posts: 24,166	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Carr isn't the problem, as much as the offensive play caller is(Carmichael) and our gutless head coach Allen---formerly, affectionately known as DA. Fire Dennis Allen!

11-13-2023, 01:45 PM	#9
hitta 1000 Posts + Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,339	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season With how awful our offensive playcalling is, it's impossible to give a fair evaluation to Carr. Rugby Saint II likes this.
hitta 1000 Posts + Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,339

11-13-2023, 02:09 PM	#10
Pete • Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Patterson, LA Posts: 1,757	Re: Mickey Loomis Discusses First Half of Saints Season Get this s*** back on track Mickey! 😡
	Last edited by Pete; 11-13-2023 at 02:20 PM..