Five Saints decisions that led to Dennis Allen's firing | Saints

A series of questionable decisions made during Dennis Allen's time as head coach of the New Orleans Saints contributed to his tenure ending prematurely midway through the 2024 season.

The Saints hired Allen as head coach prior to the 2022 season to replace Sean Payton, who earned one Super Bowl victory during his 16-year tenure as head coach. The team decided to move from a total of nine games to 2024 after losing seven straight games and having the worst record in the NFL at 2-7.

Allen failed to follow in Payton's footsteps, finishing with an 18-25 record as the Saints' head coach and failing to make the playoffs. Below are five Saints coaching and personnel decisions that were made during Allen's tenure and didn't pan out.

The Saints are promoting offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael

With Payton gone, the Saints needed to find a new offensive player. Allen continued to make defensive plays and the offense was led by a familiar face: acting offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, who was promoted to play caller.

Carmichael had been a part of Payton's offensive staff since 2006, but was not very effective in his play-calling duties. The Saints' offense was a far cry from Payton's glory days, as evidenced by the low scoring numbers, and Carmichael was released after 2023.

The Saints offense has shown signs of progress after hiring Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator and play caller in 2024, but Allen likely would have had better results on that side of the ball throughout his tenure if he had convinced the Saints to hire someone other than Carmichael to be reinstated in 2022.

The Saints select Trevor Penning in the 1st round

The Saints had two first-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, wide receiver Chris Olave and offensive tackle Trevor Penning. Olave has been a major contributor for the Saints since his rookie season, but the same can't be said for Penning.

The Saints decided to let veteran left tackle Terron Armstead hit free agency before 2022, and Penning was never up to the task as his replacement.

Penning has established himself as the Saints' starting player in 2024, but his first two seasons, which Allen called “trial by fire,” didn't go as planned.

The Saints signed Derek Carr to a four-year, $150 million contract

Speaking of Saints quarterbacks, the team had a clear need at the position entering the 2023 season and decided to sign Carr to a multi-year deal after going 7-10 in 2022 with Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton.

Carr's Saints tenure got off to a promising start in 2023, but from that point on it was an emotional rollercoaster of a season. Carr battled injuries and got into several verbal altercations with teammates on the field.

Carr appeared to be rejuvenated in Kubiak's offense after a 2-0 start, but his performance declined after he was injured again and he was unable to help save Allen's job after an ugly loss to Carolina Panthers had returned to the starting lineup.

The Saints are letting Kaden Elliss and David Onyemata go

The Saints had to make some decisions regarding free agents Kaden Elliss and David Onyemata before the start of the 2023 season and decided to let them sign elsewhere.

Both Elliss and Onyemata signed with the Falcons and have been important contributors for them ever since. The Falcons lead the NFC South at 6-3 in 2024 and rank higher than the Saints in total defense. One would think the return of one or both players would have helped Allen's struggling defense.

The Saints are bringing back disgruntled wide receiver Michael Thomas

The Michael Thomas saga finally came to an end after the 2023 season, but sending Thomas away sooner likely would have helped.

The Saints decided to bring Thomas back in 2023 despite being plagued by injuries. Depth at the wide receiver position had been an issue under Allen, and Thomas didn't help much in that regard, considering he only played in 13 of a possible 34 games during Allen's tenure.