Saints fire Pete Carmichael: 4 immediate replacements for New Orleans

1. Saints can hire former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden

The Saints have reported interest in Jon Gruden, who last spent four years as the Raiders head coach from 2018-21. While Gruden's Las Vegas tenure ended with concerning allegations of inappropriate off-field conduct (in addition to generally poor performance on the field), few possess more NFL head coaching experience than him. NFL teams tend to overlook off-field misdeeds when there is perceived talent. In the case of Gruden, the problematic contents of his past emails probably won't dissuade teams from considering him for another job post.

Gruden spent time with the Saints during practices last season. The obvious reason to consider Gruden is his relationship with Derek Carr. For all of the valid gripes with Gruden's performance as Raiders head coach, he consistently placed Carr in a position to succeed. That partnership was the bedrock of Las Vegas' offense, and moreover, Gruden is a long-running QB guru. He knows the position well and the Saints' primary reason for moving on from Carmichael was his inability to get the most out of Carr.

It's beyond fair to question Carr's future with the Saints. The quarterback is now 32 years old and last season was a definite step back. He's not old by his positional standard, though, and Gruden's system would immediately elevate Carr's comfort level in the offense. If that's what the Saints value — in addition to a splashy name to help sell a few extra tickets while rehabbing Gruden's broken image — this is the hire to make.

It's clear the Saints shouldn't make this hire, but we know how the NFL works and Gruden's name still carries a certain weight and reputation. It would appear that he's a real candidate for this job.