Saints’ Sean Payton makes Rob Ryan his scapegoat, fires the coordinator
Hours after reports came that Rob Ryan would be fired by the New Orleans Saints, and after a public denial of those reports by coach Sean Payton, the inevitable happened on Monday evening. Ryan was fired, according to numerous reports. That didn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
Things were looking grim for Ryan, the Saints’ defensive coordinator, after New Orleans’ 47-14 loss to the Washington Redskins — a team that had not scored that many points in a decade. Fox Sports reported that Ryan was relieved of his duties on Monday morning.
Payton denied the report Monday, saying that Ryan “absolutely” was still a part of the team’s coaching staff. But that was a semantic approach; everyone knew it was unlikely that Ryan would be calling the shots for the Saints defense after the team’s Week 11 bye. Then the move became official. Dennis Allen, the former coach of the Oakland Raiders, takes over the Saints defense.
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It’s not stunning. For a few reasons.
For one, Ryan’s unit was on pace to be one of the worst statistical pass defenses in league history. If anything, the defense got worse since the start of the season. Several young players have worked their way into the rotation but failed to make the unit better. The Saints lost to two rookie quarterbacks, and on Sunday, Kirk Cousins had a career day against them.
This move was about more than Ryan. Yes, the Saints had gotten themselves back into the playoff race with the dramatic win against the New York Giants in Week 8, moving to 4-3. The past two losses haven’t removed them from contention, but there are a few teams they’d have to leapfrog — not easy with this defense — to get in.
This move was more about head coach Sean Payton. He and Ryan had not seen eye to eye in recent seasons, which has been roundly documented. Payton gave Ryan another shot this offseason, and it hadn’t resulted in good play. Of course, you could say that the Saints need better talent on that side of the ball, and some of the front office’s bloated contracts have turned out to bite New Orleans in the behind, as well as some missed draft picks.
But Payton is playing chess through this transaction, and he’s setting himself up three or four moves down the line. By putting this on Ryan’s head, Payton ostensibly looks better with a scapegoat in hand. And this is not as much about appearances with the Saints as it would be for the rest of the league.
The worst-kept secret in the NFL is that the Saints would be willing to let Payton get out of his contract and walk after the season, with perhaps multiple teams willing to bid for his services. Miami Dolphins? Indianapolis Colts? There might be others.
So Payton fires Ryan, a coach he never much cared for, and promotes his good buddy Allen, doing him a solid in terms of exposure, as Ryan’s replacement. And Payton comes out of this looking cleaner, even if his judgment and coaching ability have to be questioned equally. The bombastic Ryan is the perfect scapegoat: he’s known, he’s visible, he has a famous last name and he was highly expendible. It made too much sense.
Firing Ryan won’t save the Saints’ season in and of itself. But it could save Payton’s chances of landing elsewhere last season and give him a ready-made excuse when he goes to answer questions about his teams’ struggles the past two seasons.
It was Ryan’s fault!
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
