Saints Now One Of Four Teams With Openings At Offensive Coordinator

A flurry of offensive coordinator hirings over the last few days have closed openings or will reportedly soon close with the Panthers, Falcons, Steelers, Patriots, Buccaneers, Raiders, and Titans. There are now four teams remaining that are still looking for offensive coordinators.

The New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and Washington have all interviewed several candidates. New Orleans has spoken to 11 coaches for an opening created when they fired Pete Carmichael last month. The Chargers, Seahawks, and Washington have all recently finalized deals with new head coaches who will now fill out their staffs.

Here's a look at each of the remaining openings, along with some of the key offensive players in place.

Chargers

• Jim Harbaugh, coach

• Justin Herbert, QB

• Austin Ekeler, RB *(free agent)

• Joshua Kelley, RB *(free agent)

• Keenan Allen, WR

• Mike Williams, WR

• Quentin Johnston, WR

• Joshua Palmer, WR

• Gerald Everett, TE *(free agent)

Of all the remaining openings, only the Chargers have a top-tier quarterback with Herbert. Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback himself, is an offensive guy but usually doesn't interfere with his coordinators.

Currently holding the fifth choice in the first round, the Chargers are also a projected $34.8 million over the estimated salary cap. This may make it difficult to keep both of their pending free-agent running backs and could potentially even make Keenan Allen a cap casualty.

Harbaugh teams usually run the ball well, but Los Angeles finished just 25th in that category last season. The Chargers also have a young offensive line filled with high draft choices. However, they've been a perpetually underachieving team coming off a 5-12 season.

Commanders

• Dan Quinn, coach

• Sam Howell, QB

• Brian Robinson, RB

• Antonio Gibson, RB *(free agent)

• Terry McLaurin, WR

• Jahan Dotson, WR

• Curtis Samuel, WR *(free agent)

• Logan Thomas, TE

Howell put up some nice numbers, but Washington is fully expected to draft a quarterback with the second overall pick this spring. Eric Bienemy is still officially Washington's offensive coordinator. However, the team is expected to go another direction after finishing just 25th in total offense last year.

McLaurin and Dotson are an underrated pair of wideouts, while Robinson is a powerful back with explosive capabilities. With five picks over the first two days of the draft and plenty of cap space, Washington will also need to rebuild an offensive line that gave up 65 sacks and a defense that ranked dead last in the league.

Quinn is a respected defensive mind with head coaching experience and should give free reign to the offensive coordinator. However, this is a franchise that needs to overcome a dysfunctional reputation with their new ownership and upgrade talent in a lot of areas.

Seahawks

• Mike Macdonald, coach

• Geno Smith, QB

• Kenneth Walker, RB

• Zach Charbonnet, RB

• DK Metcalf, WR

• Tyler Lockett, WR

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR

• Noah Fant, TE *(free agent)

Seattle will be replacing a possible future Hall of Fame coach in Pete Carroll. Macdonald has been a terrific defensive coordinator, but this is his first head coaching role. His first major decision will be at quarterback, where Geno Smith has been decent but far from top-level and isn't a long-term answer.

The Seahawks have the 16th overall pick in the first round and no second round selection. So, barring a trade, it seems unlikely they pick a quarterback. Instead, Seattle will probably focus on the defensive side. The interior of their offensive line also needs a lot of work.

With this being Macdonald's first head coaching job, he'll likely stay out of meddling with the offensive side. However, it's hard to imagine Seattle playing a wide-open offense with Smith behind center, even with intriguing weapons at receiver.

Saints

• Dennis Allen, coach

• Derek Carr, QB

• Alvin Kamara, RB

• Kendre Miller, RB

• Chris Olave, WR

• Rashid Shaheed, WR

• Juwan Johnson, TE

• Taysom Hill, miscellaneous

This team's quarterback decision was cemented when they decided to bring Allen back for a third season. Carr is clearly Allen's ''guy'', for better or worse. They could certainly do worse at the position. Carr played far better down the stretch of the year, but will now be in yet another new system.

This isn't the bad job that many fans have made it out to be. Allen is a defensive-minded coach, so the new coordinator will hopefully have free reign over the offense. Additionally, a better offensive performance that possibly leads the team back to the playoffs would make the coordinator an instant candidate for a head coaching role.

There are weapons. Kamara is the most versatile back in the league. Olave is coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Carr, while certainly not elite, has shown he can be productive when he gets protection and gets on a roll. Shaheed is an incredibly explosive player with tremendous upside. Hill and Johnson are matchup nightmares for a defense.

There are also big challenges with this job. The new coordinator must maximize the best talents of Kamara, Hill, Shaheed, and Johnson. Outside of the way he used Hill, this and play-calling were Carmichael's biggest failings. Wideout depth could also be an issue, though rookie A.T. Perry showed nice potential down the stretch. A new coordinator must be able to develop Perry, Miller, OT Trevor Penning, and other young players brought in this offseason

The biggest challenge will be rebuilding an offensive line that was abysmal last season. Most expect New Orleans to address the offensive line with an early round draft pick. However, defensive end and other areas of need must also be addressed and must be done mostly through the draft.

The Saints have a high-ceiling potential for an offensive coordinator. Possibly more so than any of the other current openings. With Allen's and several other jobs probably at stake, this also might have the highest degree of pressure among any of the remaining jobs.