At a time when plenty of Saints fans aren’t happy with the league office, “Who Dat” nation will be happy to know that the folks on Park Avenue have given the Saints an easy path out of the Rooney Rule minefield that otherwise may have prevented the team from hiring Bill Parcells to replace Sean Payton in 2012.

Although the Saints must comply with the Rooney Rule only if the Saints choose to hire an interim coach from outside the organization, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello tells PFT that the Saints may comply with the Rooney Rule by interviewing a current member of the coaching staff.

And so, if the Saints simply choose to interview every current position coach for the job, that necessarily will encompass newly-hired receivers coach Henry Ellard, which will allow the Saints to then hire Parcells without interviewing any minority candidate who is not already working for the team.

At a time when the NFL is making such a big deal about the failure of the Redskins and Cowboys to comply with the “spirit” of the salary cap, it’s hard to reconcile this loophole with the “spirit” of the Rooney Rule.