New Orleans Times-Picayune/NOLA.com columnist Jeff Duncan New Orleans Times-Picayune/NOLA.com columnist Jeff Duncan. (Courtesy of WVUE-TV on YouTube.)

In September, the New Orleans Saints were the biggest surprise of the NFL season. They were 2-0 and had outscored the opposition 91-29. That must feel like a lifetime ago. A seven-game losing streak led to the firing of Dennis Allen. Now, the Saints (3-7) face an uncertain future with an interim head coach, a veteran quarterback under fire, and a longtime general manager under pressure.

To help us learn more, we recently caught up with Times-Picayune/NOLA.com columnist and WVUE-TV analyst Jeff Duncan who has covered the Saints for 24 years. He is the author of Payton and Brees: The Men Who Built the Greatest Offense in NFL History and co-wrote Steve Gleason’s memoir A Life Impossible: Living with ALS: Finding Peace and Wisdom Within a Fragile Existence. We spoke to Duncan about the Saints, Sean Payton, and New Orleans restaurants.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Awful Announcing: What happened to the Saints after that great start?

Jeff Duncan: “I think it was a convergence of factors. Going into this year, my biggest fear with this team was that they were very precariously built. If they had any adversity, particularly in the form of injuries, then it was a house of cards. That’s exactly what happened. The years of cap mismanagement had robbed this team of depth. They’ve had to make some difficult roster decisions.

“A number of players that this team drafted, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, like Trey Hendrickson, Alex Anzalone, Zack Baun, Marcus Williams, and Sheldon Rankins, they moved on from all these draft picks because of their cap situation. They couldn’t pay everybody. I just think they made a bunch of bad decisions. They were counting on the new draft picks to come in and replace the ones they moved on from. None of them panned out that way.”

Was there any way Allen could have survived?

“If he built some confidence from the players on the roster by getting them in the playoffs, then I think they could have withstood this season. But because he hadn’t, he had no margin for error this year. The fans were ready to move on from him if things went south, and you could see it right away. They lost those two close games to the Eagles and Falcons. The Falcons game they should have won. They outplayed Atlanta. The dam broke, and Derek Carr got hurt. It spiraled because players lost confidence and checked out on Dennis Allen. That’s what led to his dismissal.”

Is Mickey Loomis’ job safe?

“I think so. I think fans would like to see a change. Mickey Loomis is not the typical general manager. I’m not sure fans understand that. He’s embedded in the hierarchy of this organization, much more so than any general manager in the NFL. He is an executor of the estate. When and if Gail Benson moves on as owner, he will be one of the main executives, along with president Dennis Lauscha, deciding what happens to the franchise. Who it’s sold to, how the proceeds from the sale are divvied up. So, I think he will have a role in this organization. He’s not going to be fired. The only thing that would happen would be if he chose to retire. In conversations I’ve had with Mickey, he’s not there yet. He still enjoys his job, enjoys coming to work, and wants to be a part of the solution.”

Who are the likely candidates to be the next Saints coach?

“I don’t know if anybody right now stands out. I think they’re probably looking at hiring somebody that’s not going to be a marquee name. I don’t see them making a Mike Ditka splash hire, a Bill Belichick. I think it’s going to be out of their price range. Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson, those marquee names on the market, I see them as probably out of their reach. And frankly, if you’re one of those prime candidates and you have options, this would not be one of the more attractive destinations because of the salary-cap issues, because you have no real long-term quarterback solution. The chances of being successful here right away are going to be minimal.”

Who will be the quarterback in 2025: Carr or someone else?

“I think they’re stuck with Derek Carr. I know Saints fans won’t like that, but the decision this past offseason to restructure his contract and kick some of his guaranteed money down the road tied them to him, at least contractually, for another year. All those decisions will be up to the new head coach. They could bite the bullet the way Sean Payton did with Russell Wilson, take your medicine salary cap-wise, and move on. It’s possible, but man, it’s a huge number. I think it’s 50-something million against the cap to a guy you don’t have starting at quarterback.”

What is it like covering the Saints?

“The locker room is terrific as far as internal leadership among the players. They have very strong leaders in Cam Jordan, Tyrann Mathieu, Demario Davis, Derek Carr, and Erik McCoy. We have a very good relationship as far as the media and the team. It’s one of the reasons why I think the players have resisted the NFLPA’s recent movement to close the locker room for interviews because I think the players themselves haven’t seen it as a problem. So, I think we’re fortunate. It’s a pretty big media core for a market our size. For instance, the Atlanta Falcons were just in town, a market that’s much bigger than New Orleans, and their media core is not nearly as large as New Orleans.”

What is something you’ve written that has upset the locals?

“During the bounty scandal, I took a hard line against the organization. In New Orleans, we’re not like the rest of America. With the European influence here, we very much feel like an island in the South. I think people pride themselves on being different. When you do not defend the honor of New Orleans, people will turn on you very quickly because it’s an us-or-them mentality. When the football team commits clear violations of league policy, they still want the local media to support the team, not to turn on them. I think a lot of fans felt like I turned on them when my point was the cover-up was worse than the crime.

“The Saints could have just come clean and admitted they had a bounty program and fallen on the sword. NFL officials that I’ve talked to said they would have gotten a slap on the wrist. Instead, it was a Watergate situation where they tried to cover up the destroyed evidence. They lied about it. That’s not going to sit well with the commissioner’s office.”

How do fans feel about the way things ended with Sean Payton?

“I think there’s a division among the fan base. Some still loyally support him, would love to have him back, and are certainly grateful for the most successful period the organization’s ever had. They still love his aggressiveness and cockiness as a coach. That’s what made him so popular here, that he stood up to the NFL, that he went after opposing teams. Then there’s another segment of that group that feels like he betrayed New Orleans when he left. And I don’t think he’s ever going to win over those fans until he comes back and defends the honor of the village again.

“I know for a fact that he was interested in at least considering coming back here after his one year out of the game. I reported it. The narrative here that he quit on the team and that he left New Orleans because he wanted to get out of here is not true, because I know for a fact he was willing to come back and coach the team again after one year. But they were already pretty much committed to Dennis Allen at that point.”

How do fans feel about the Sean Payton movie Home Team?

“Good question. I think most of them feel like Rotten Tomatoes got that one right with the low rating. I think they saw that as Sean Payton at his worst, basically playing up to his ego. It was his chance to also, frankly, help out a family member at the time who was in the movie business. That was really what that was about more than anything else.”

If you must impress an out-of-town visitor, what New Orleans restaurant do you take them to?

“That’s an easy one. It’s Clancy’s, the restaurant that Sean Payton is fond of. It’s my favorite restaurant in the city because it’s such a unique New Orleans place. It’s a white tablecloth five-star restaurant for service and food, but it is a neighborhood restaurant. It’s not touristy. People in the know go to Clancy’s. I see Gregg Popovich in there when he comes into town with Spurs. Michael Jordan’s been there. Certainly, when movies were filmed here, a lot of movie stars I’ve seen in there. To me, it’s the quintessential New Orleans experience.”

About Michael Grant

Born in Jamaica. Grew up in New York City. Lives in Louisville, Ky. Sports writer. Not related to Ulysses S. Grant.