A historic winter storm early this week caused the New Orleans Saints to reschedule three in-person coaching interviews that they had set up. One of those, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, has since accepted the job with the New York Jets.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter is now reporting that the Saints have been able to set up some in-person interviews with their top remaining candidates.
Schefter reports that New Orleans is flying in Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver on Thursday for an expected interview on Friday. Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will also be flying in to New Orleans on Friday for expected talks on Saturday.
Both Kafka and Weaver were scheduled interviews earlier this week that had to be postponed due to the weather. Additionally, there are several reports that the Saints are expected to set up talks with former Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that New Orleans is expected to have second interviews next week with Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. The Saints have spoken to both Brady and Moore virtually.
Buffalo and Philadelphia are each playing in the conference title games this weekend. Even if both teams advance to Super Bowl LIX, there will still be a window of opportunity for interested teams to have in-person discussions with each coach starting next week.
The Saints finished this season with a 5-12 record, missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. Coach Dennis Allen was fired after a 2-7 start.
Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi became interim coach down the stretch of the season. Rizzi is also in the mix for the job. In fact, he’s the only candidate that the Saints have had an official in-person interview with to this point.
New Orleans is among four teams that still have head coaching vacancies. The others are the Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders, and Dallas Cowboys.
