Mike McCarthy, the former Dallas Cowboys coach who was in the running for the Saints job, is no longer planning to coach this year, and Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has emerged as a lead candidate to fill the New Orleans vacancy, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Tuesday night.

No final decision has been made by New Orleans, which has held second interviews with three known candidates: Moore, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. Moore's second interview was Monday, a day after his Eagles offense erupted for 55 points in an NFC Championship Game rout of the Washington Commanders. 

McCarthy had been scheduled to have his first interview with the Saints this week but instead will focus on the 2026 hiring cycle, a source told ESPN, confirming an NFL Network report. 

McCarthy had a 49-35 record in his five seasons as Cowboys coach. His contract expired after the season, and the sides mutually agreed to head in different directions. 

He had interviewed for the Chicago Bears head coaching job before they hired Ben Johnson last week.

The Saints are the last NFL team with a current head coach opening. They fired Dennis Allen during the season, with special teams coach Darren Rizzi filling in on an interim basis; Rizzi also interviewed for the head coach job earlier this month.

Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury opted not to pursue the Saints job, a team source confirmed to ESPN earlier Tuesday. And Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady opted to stay in Buffalo instead of pursuing a second interview with New Orleans. A third candidate, Aaron Glenn, interviewed virtually with the Saints but was ultimately hired by the New York Jets.

Dallas hired McCarthy as Jason Garrett's replacement in 2020 with a clear mandate: deliver postseason success. But he won just one playoff game and suffered devastating home losses in the wild-card round to the San Francisco 49ers (2021) and Green Bay Packers (2023).

McCarthy has followed a similar coaching plan of sitting out a year before.

After he was let go by the Packers late in the 2018 season, he interviewed for the vacancies with the Cleveland Browns and Giants but opted to sit out the 2019 season.