Saints hire former Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff as consultant

Mickey Loomis gets a lot of flak, but as he ages, he continues to underscore the importance of having a competent team of experienced people around to aid in decision making.

Today the Saints announced the hiring of Thomas Dimitroff as a consultant who will help Mickey Loomis in "all facets" of his job.

Dimitroff joins a collection of former general managers including Jeff Ireland who is over the scouting department and Randy Mueller.

However, Dimitroff feels different, like a potential successor.

Mueller and Ireland are unlikely to get another shot in the league as general managers, but Dimitroff interviewed for two open GM jobs during the most recent hiring cycle. Doors appear to still be open for him to get another opportunity, and it appears as though he's chosen to walk through one with the Saints.

Dimitroff lead the Falcons to a 108-99 record during his tenure including six post-season appearances as well as a trip to the Super Bowl. He's also won the NFL executive of the year award in the 2008 and 2010.

The Saints Falcons rivalry just added another chapter.

Trevor Penning and Alontae Taylor have a chance to play Sunday vs Cardinals

During Monday's press conference head coach Kellen Moore was asked specifically about the prospects of Trevor Penning and Alontae Taylor playing on Sunday.

"I think there's a chance for a couple of those guys. I think today was a really good workday for those guys, it's really about how they recover tomorrow, and we'll put a plan together starting on Wednesday. Yeah, I would imagine you'll see a guy or two out there," said Moore

Both players are dealing with injuries that can linger throughout a season, turf toe for Penning and a hamstring for Taylor, so caution about bringing them back too soon would be understandable.

There's also potentially some gamesmanship from Kellen Moore as there's no reason to rule out either player earlier than necessary.

If neither can go on Sunday, their primary backups in Ugo Amadi and Dillan Radunz are the next men up.

Saints release special teams ace J.T. Gray

Saints let go another long tenured member of the team.

Kellen Moore announced the Saints have released J.T. Gray. The seven-year veteran signed with the Saints as an UDFA in 2018 and went on to become a core special teamer and earning a 1st team All-Pro in 2021, and 2nd team All=Pro in 2019 and 2024.

"We released J.T. Gray which was one of the hardest things so far this year. He's a really good ST's player, a really good player, he's done a lot of things here, it was a really challenging decision we had to make," said Kellen Moore

Gray's release comes in the final year of a three-year contract extension he signed in 2023 where he had a cap hit of 3.5mil, ranking 17th on the 2025 roster just behind guys like Justin Reid and Nathan Shepherd, while ahead of players like Bryan Bresee, Justin Blackmon, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Davon Godchaux.

It appears contribution expectations vs pay didn't line-up.

While obviously a difficult decision, it makes sense on a roster that's gotten increasingly youthful overnight as the Saints are clearly looking to invest in developing younger cheaper talent.

Gray won't be on the market long as the expectations are that he'll join his former head coach Sean Payton and special teams coach Darren Rizzi in Denver.