BakoSaint

When the Saints were pursuing Kellen Moore, there was speculation he could make about $10 million per year, just below more sought after candidates like Ben Johnson and Liam Cohen, and also that he had concerns about the Saints QB room. Fast forward to today and Moore's contract details have never been released, while his concern and authority over the QB room has disappeared, as Mickey Loomis has announced that Carr is the Saints QB and they are planning to work something out with Carr's contract, which means a restructure or extension as Carr has said he will never take a pay cut.

In Jacksonville, Liam Cohen had similar concerns, in his case about GM Trent Baalke, but ultimately his concerns were addressed with the firing of Baalke, and he set the market at $12 million a year for an up and coming offensive coordinator whose concerns were addressed with personnel action. So what is the market for an up and coming offensive coordinator, of similar ability, with similar concerns, where the front office would rather address concerns with the check book than personnel action? Essentially the Jags got Liam Cohen for $12 million a year, but couldn't get an NDA on Trent Baalke sucking thrown in for that price. So what is the price for Kellen Moore as coach plus an NDA on Derek Carr sucking? 50% premium? 100% premium?

Here is a look at the highest paid coaches for contract details that have been released:

https://frontofficesports.com/highes...-head-coaches/

If Moore got a 50% premium over Cohen for agreeing to the NDA that Cohen wouldn't that puts Moore at $18 million per year, tied with Sean Payton for 2nd highest paid coach in the NFL. Ironically, Payton's record contract came along with initially endorsing a QB he didn't believe in, albeit only for 1 year, though it also paid for a coach of much higher stature. Mickey Loomis seems to have plans for Derek Carr beyond just 1 year.

If Moore got a 100% premium over Cohen for the NDA and his wonderful acting job in smiling and praising Loomis and Carr, that puts him at $24 million per year, highest paid coach in the NFL over Andy Reid by $4 million, and honestly still a good value compared to Derek Carr's contract.

As the last credible candidate who wouldn't make the Saints coaching search look like a joke, Moore had the Saints over a barrel. But the one thing he likely asked for, a QB with upside who would stay on the field that he could mold, was the one thing GM Mickey Loomis would never give in a million years. So the solution was obvious, cash money. If losses racked up under Carr could cost Moore a second coaching contract, pay him double to suck it up and trot ole hickory out there for one last go.

Of course, I could just be pulling all this out of my arse. It would be so simple to disprove. Just release the contract details like Ben Johnson and Liam Cohen's contracts. Simple. Then people wouldn't have to ask why the details were not released and what the Saints are hiding. But the details have not been released, which means we do have to ask why not?

If the Saints won't leak Moore's contract details, why wouldn't Moore's people, such as his agent, leak the numbers? The easiest explanation in most cases would be that an agent or coach would not want to leak low numbers, that lower their stature as a high profile new coach. But in this case where Moore was the Saints only credible option and was negotiating immediately after a Super Bowl win, its hard to believe he got underpaid and didn't at least match Cohen. So that explanation is out the window. That brings up another explanation, that Moore was paid not just to be coach, and to smile and ignore his concerns with a Derek Carr NDA, but also to include a salary NDA, to cover up the payment for the Carr NDA. This could be bolstered by Moore not wanting to expose himself to public criticism for taking extra money to endorse a QB he doesn't believe in, as public knowledge of a Kellen Moore salary in excess of $18 million per year combined with an endorsement of Derek Carr after previously leaked concerns would make it clear to everyone what was going on, that Moore did not control the QB room. Combine the Carr NDA with the salary NDA and that is asking a lot of Kellen Moore beyond just coaching the team, having to endorse a QB he doesn't believe in and the salary compensating him for it, greatly risking his own reputation. With all these conditions on Moore's contract, risking his own reputation and forcing him to join the ridiculous contingent of Derek Carr stans with Mickey Loomis and a few online trolls, its easy to see how he could have demanded double what Liam Cohen was paid for getting everything he wanted with Baalke's exit and his own hand picked GM. That would make him the highest paid head coach in the NFL. Actually it would make Kellen Moore the highest paid coach in all of American professional sports, trailing only two European soccer coaches.

Sean Payton's contract is a good example of a slightly different case. The Broncos were in a similar situation with Russell Wilson. Payton's contract made him the highest paid coach in the NFL at the time he signed, after expressing concerns with the Broncos QB situation. But they did make his record contract public. Making Payton's record contract public was a bad look for the Broncos, with commentators speculating thats what it took to secure a top coaching candidate willing to take on Wilson's diva personality and albatross contract. It was a good look for Sean Payton, showing he was valued as a top coach in the league and willing to take on any challenge, but wasn't drinking the kool aid on mediocre QBs and was getting fairly compensated for the challenging situation he put himself in. Ultimately, disclosing the contract was costly to the Broncos and valuable to Payton, so not disclosing it should have cost even more in terms of coaching salary. That seems to be the path the Saints have taken.

You can say this is a ridiculous conspiracy theory, but then why won't the Saints or Moore's camp just release the contract details?

You can say this doesn't matter since its Gayle's money and won't count against the cap and the more we spent the more it shows we are committed to compete. But then you can't say 'if Moore believe in Derek Carr, I do." If a person who has cashed a check for an amount of money that nobody wants to disclose believes in something the people who wrote that check believe in, I reserve the right to be highly skeptical.

Just release the contract! If there is nothing to hide, prove it!