Saints GM Mickey Loomis responds to warning from team owner Gayle Benson

Last week, New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson raised some eyebrows regarding the futures of general manager Mickey Loomis and head coach Kellen Moore when she said, after the club fell to 1-4 on the season, that she would "not accept this level of performance as our standard." 

The Saints subsequently earned a 34-27 road win over the New York Giants to improve to 2-4 this past Sunday. While speaking with reporters in France on Wednesday, Loomis responded to Benson's comments. 

Mickey Loomis "understood" Gayle Benson's comments

"I understood where she’s coming from, and I think every once in a while we all need to be a little uncomfortable. That’s OK," Loomis said, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. 

Loomis initially joined the Saints as their director of football administration in 2000, and New Orleans promoted him to the role of general manager in 2002. While the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV under his watch in February 2010, New Orleans hasn't made the playoffs since suffering a divisional-round loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January 2021. 

"I like the direction we’re going," Loomis insisted. "We’re a young, developing team and we have to recognize that. I recognize that. We’ve got a young coach 22 games into his career. That’s where we’re at." 

Mickey Loomis is a big fan of the Saints' QB1

Second-year quarterback and 2025 second-round draft pick Tyler Shough has produced some positive performances for the Saints during his young career, but he also hasn't yet shown that he can be a long-term answer at the position for a championship-caliber team. That said, Loomis seems confident that Shough will eventually reach such a level. 

"It all starts with the quarterback, and I think we’re all excited about him," Loomis said about Shough. "There’s still a lot of development. He’s 13 or 14 games. He hasn’t even started a full season yet." 

The Saints will next face the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers at the Stade de France in Paris this coming Sunday. As of Wednesday morning ET, DraftKings Sportsbook had New Orleans as a 3.5-point underdog for that game. 

"We didn’t get the outcomes that we were expecting or wanted, but they were there ready for us to take them," Loomis added about the first five weeks of the Saints' season. "One of the things about a young team is they have to learn how to win, and we’re in that process." 

It sounds like Loomis understands what could happen in January if the young Saints don't "learn how to win" more than the occasional contest sooner rather than later.