KANSAS CITY, Mo. – With the Buffalo Bills one game away from their first trip to the Super Bowl since the 1993 season, offensive coordinator Joe Brady has withdrawn from consideration for the Saints head coaching job. New Orleans, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Brady, who had an initial interview with the Saints, will remain the Bills’ O coordinator in 2025, sources say.
Brady, 35, is in his first full season running Buffalo’s offense after taking over the role in an interim capacity during the 2023 season when Ken Dorsey was fired. Brady was hired as the Bills’ quarterbacks coach in 2022. He also served as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021, before being fired mid-season.
Bills Quarterback Josh Allenwhen asked about Brady earlier this month, raved about his impact on the offense.
“He’s been fantastic,” Allen said. “Going into a situation last year, it’s not easy to change the backstage of play midway through the year, and he came in and from that day forward, if you look at our divisions, our success that we had as a team, it’s noticeable. So, he’s one of the most positive guys in the building.
“He always has juice and energy for guys. I think that’s something we love and appreciate about him, and he’s as real as they come.”
Brady helped lead Allen to one of his best seasons to date, as well as creating a strong rushing attack en route to Sunday’s AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs (6:30 p.m. ET, CBS). Buffalo committed the NFL’s fewest turnovers this season (eight) and sacks (14), recorded a franchise record for points (525) and touchdowns (65) in a season and scored more than 30 points in 12 regular season games, the most in team history.
Brady spent time with the Saints as an offensive assistant in 2017 and 2018, and he served as LSU’s passing game coordinator during the Tigers’ 2019 national championship season.
In addition to the Saints, he also interviewed for head coaching jobs with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears.
The Saints have the NFL’s only remaining head coaching vacancy. Brady is one of two serious candidates who died in New Orleans before making it to the second interview stage. Former Saints assistant Aaron Glenn interviewed virtually with the team but did not interview in person after accepting the head coaching job with the New York Jets.
The Saints conducted in-person interviews with Anthony Weaver and Mike Kafka over the weekend after a snowstorm delayed the meetings. They will likely schedule a second interview with New Orleans special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi – who served as interim head coach following the firing of Dennis Allen in early November – and are expected to interview the former Cowboys coach from Dallas, Mike McCarthy, himself. Kellen Moore could also be in line for a second interview after meeting with the team virtually.
NFL Network was the first to report that Brady is withdrawing from the race for the Saints job.
ESPN’s Katherine Terrell contributed to this report.
