Why Joe Brady withdrew from Saints' coaching search, and why Bills' offensive coordinator will stay put
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady has withdrawn his name from consideration for the New Orleans Saints' head coaching job and will stay in Buffalo for the 2025 season. NFL Network was first to report the news of Brady's decision.
The Buffalo Bills got some good news ahead of Sunday's AFC championship game.
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady has withdrawn his name from consideration for the New Orleans Saints' head coaching job and will stay in Buffalo for the 2025 season. NFL Network was first to report the news of Brady's decision.
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady is staying with the team for the 2025 season and will not pursue the Saints' head coach job. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
Brady had interviewed virtually with the Saints, who had then requested a second in-person interview. Brady, 35, is in his first full season as the Bills' offensive coordinator. He led a unit that averaged 30.9 points per game in the regular season, which finished second in the NFL. The Bills' offense scored touchdowns 71.6% of the time in the red zone, which also ranked No. 2 in the league.
The Saints are the last remaining team of the seven that had openings at head coach this hiring cycle. New Orleans is a whopping $59 million over the projected 2025 salary cap, according to sports business website spotrac.com, and does not have a clear path to a franchise quarterback.
For those reasons, it's not entirely a surprise that Brady pulled his named from consideration. If the Bills have another solid season on offense in 2025, he willy be an attractive candidate again during next year's hiring cycle.
Former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who this week was named the Chicago Bears' head coach, followed a similar path last year in returning to Detroit and seemingly having his pick of jobs this year.
Should the Bills beat the Chiefs and get to the Super Bowl, they won't have to worry about Brady's attention being divided.
"There's not really any preparing or spending any other thought around it," Brady said during the week of the interview process. "I know it sounds like, 'Hey, that's impossible,' but it's really easy to just kind of walk in with no expectations, with no preparation, and just be yourself, and the rest takes care of itself. I wasn't going to allow myself to take anything away from the game planning. So like I said last week, my wife and my son might have saw me a little less, but nothing was different from a work perspective."
