Kliff Kingsbury's decision to shun the Saints came with additional benefits.
Kliff Kingsbury's decision to stay with the Washington Commanders in 2025 benefitted the organization in more ways than one.
Kingsbury was an intriguing name on the head coaching cycle after galvanizing his career in Washington. The offensive coordinator was lauded for his work with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. He ran one of the league's most efficient units despite the talent being subpar compared to the NFL's elite. The Commanders took a chance on the play-caller and he repaid their faith.
It didn't take long for interview requests to arrive. The Jacksonville Jaguars were reportedly interested. The Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints made formal approaches. Kingsbury wasn't interested in speaking to anyone while the Commanders were still contending for the Super Bowl.
New Orleans was the only one that waited around. A recent report claims their head coaching job was Kingsbury's if he wanted it. He chose to remain with the Commanders instead.
Kingsbury always said he was in no rush. Leaving Daniels had to be for a huge opportunity. He didn't believe the Saints — who have uncertainty at the quarterback position and severe salary-cap issues to navigate — represented that.
Commanders kept Kliff Kingsbury and their bitter rivals lost Kellen Moore
As it turned out, there was a bonus attached.
The Saints pivoted swiftly to make Kellen Moore their new head coach, taking yet another coordinator away from the newly crowned Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Given how keen Nick Sirianni was to retain the play-caller, this is only going to help the Commanders.
Philadelphia has experience in this area. They lost Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen in the same offseason. They rode the wave and managed to return to the grandest stage of all quickly. It's not ideal, but Sirianni has a contingency plan in place. And the talent at their disposal makes this offensive coordinator opening extremely tempting.
Jalen Hurts will be starting over. New coordinator. New playbook. A new relationship to build. That's not the case with the Commanders.
They enter the season with stability and continuity in equal measure. Kingsbury is staying. Every coach who worked alongside Daniels is also giving it another go-around despite interest from elsewhere. The playing personnel will change, but those around Washington's prized possession from a development standpoint are not.
This might be the last offseason we can say that with any confidence.
Another strong campaign for the Commanders will see more interest arrive at Kingsbury's door. The likes of Brian Johnson, David Blough, and Tavita Pritchard will be in contention for coordinator jobs. That makes it more important than ever to maximize this window.
The Commanders have to strengthen to keep up with the Eagles. They are a dominant unit that emphatically overran the Kansas City Chiefs. That should provide Adam Peters with some added urgency to put the right pieces in place to go one better next time around.
Just who'll join the ranks remains to be seen. But fans can relax safe in the knowledge Kingsbury and his staff will be on hand to keep standards high in pursuit of kicking on.
Kingsbury believes in Daniels. He believed in this team enough to spurn the Saints' advances. The fact this also weakened the Eagles is the icing on the cake.
