Take 5: Early candidates to be Saints’ subsequent head coach

The New Orleans Saints became the second team to get a head start on the NFL coaching carousel by firing Dennis Allen on Monday.

He follows Robert Saleh, who was let go by the New York Jets last month. Allen’s departure appeared imminent as the Saints dropped their seventh consecutive game on Sunday following two wins to begin the season.

Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi will serve as the team’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season, and here are five early candidates to become the Saints’ next head coach in the offseason.

5. Mike Vrabel, Browns Consultant

Vrabel, 49, is spending this season as a consultant for Cleveland after parting ways with Tennessee last offseason. The NFL’s Coach of the Year in 2021, Vrabel spent six years at the helm of the Titans. He is highly respected in league circles and is expected to be on the short list for several vacancies this offseason.

4. Aaron Glenn, Detroit Lions Defensive Coordinator

As impressive as the Lions’ offense is, Glenn has been doing an outstanding job leading the defense, which has continued to befuddle opponents following the devastating injury to pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson. Detroit is allowing an average of 357.1 yards per game, but a solid portion of that is coming in garbage time of blowout victories. The Lions are allowing only 18.5 points per game, good for sixth in the NFL entering Monday night.

Glenn, 52, has ties to the Saints’ franchise. After closing his playing career with a season in New Orleans in 2008, he returned to serve as the team’s defensive backs coach from 2016-20 before taking the reins of the Lions’ defense. The big hurdle in a potential third stint in New Orleans could be the team’s interest in an offensive-minded head coach following the failed Allen tenure.

3. Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator

Brady has been lauded for his work with Josh Allen & Co. since taking over midseason in 2023. Despite deal away Stefon Diggs last offseason and Allen working with a mediocre group of wide receivers, Buffalo is fifth in the NFL averaging 28.9 points per game.

Brady also has strong ties to New Orleans, working as an offensive assistant for the Saints from 2017-18 before moving on to become the passing game coordinator for LSU the following season. After two years as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator, Brady moved on to Buffalo in 2022. He would potentially become the youngest head coach in the NFL, having just turned 35 in September.

2. Todd Monken, Baltimore Ravens Offensive Coordinator

Sticking with the offensive-minded theme, Monken currently oversees the NFL’s fourth-ranked offense in terms of total yards and No. 2 scoring offense at 31.4 points per game. Monken, 58, is a longtime offensive coordinator at the pro and college levels. He came to Baltimore last season after running Georgia’s offense for three years, winning a pair of national titles in the process.

Monken began his coaching career at Division II Grand Valley State in 1989 and has served stints at Notre Dame, Oklahoma State and LSU in addition to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Bucs and Cleveland Browns.

1. Ben Johnson, Lions Offensive Coordinator

Yes, Bill Belichick might be the biggest name available this offseason but no one is shaping up to be more sought after than Johnson. The Lions “only” have the seventh-ranked total offense in the league but Detroit is regularly blowing opponents out on the strength of an offense that leads the NFL with an average of 32.3 points per game.

How interested Johnson is in the Saints’ job could depend upon where New Orleans stacks up at the end of the season in terms of landing one of the top QBs in the draft and which other vacancies become available.

–Field Level Media