For a couple of weeks now, all eyes have been on New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis to make a significant hire.
Like a handful of other teams, the Saints are without a head coach and have been heavily involved in finding the right one. Interviewing a myriad of candidates, many fans seem to believe there are a couple of favorites who could be coming to town soon, on a permanent basis.
Following the NFL's Divisional Round, this weekend, many expect the coaching cycle to pick up some steam, especially considering one of the bigger losers of the weekend.
The Detroit Lions have two of the very top candidates available, this cycle, and their loss to the Washington Commanders on Saturday night could be what really gets this process going around the league.
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Both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn are expected to get a job, this time around, and New Orleans might just end up with one of them (Glenn, specifically).
As it turns out, the Lions loss is exactly what the coaching cycle needed. ESPN's NFL insider Adam Schefter went on Sportscenter Sunday morning to give fans an update on this coaching cycle, and to confirm everyone's suspicions, Detroit's ousting will indeed expedite things.
Adam Schefter hints the Saints could make a head coaching hire very soon
"That was one of the byproducts of that upset last night in Detroit, because the NFL coaching hiring cycle now has been ramped up dramatically," the insider reported.
How soon will teams begin hiring coaches?
"And we can see most if not all of these openings filled by the end of this week," he confirmed.
Only one team, to this point, has made a hire. The New England Patriots brought back an old friend in former linebacker Mike Vrabel, who most recently served as a consultant for the Cleveland Browns after coaching the Tennessee Titans.
The Saints, meanwhile, look like a front-runner for someone like Glenn out of Detroit. If not Glenn, then former Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy looks like another favorite as well.
Of course, the biggest obstacle for this next head coach is going to be figuring out a direction at quarterback going forward. And, obviously, there are seemingly always stresses coming by way of the salary cap.
Will it be Glenn? Will it be McCarthy? How about someone else, unexpected?
It sounds like we won't have to wait much longer to find out.