Yesterday, the Broncos reached out to the Saints to inquire about their former HC Sean Payton.@SeanPayton discusses the situation and his possible return to the NFL ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XDr7HADIUT
Buy Saints Tickets— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 8, 2023
Well that’s interesting. The New Orleans Saints are banking on a Sean Payton trade bringing back the first round draft pick they traded away in 2023, so it’s good to see interested teams already reaching out to him. Payton spoke about his conversation with Denver Broncos ownership on the FOX Sports pregame show.
“Denver’s the first team. And I was able to have a conversation with their owner, and that’s kind of the protocol. So it would go team-to-Saints, and then the interview process can’t officially begin until the 17th of this month, so that’s the process,” Payton said. The way he tells it, this was just a casual conversation with Broncos owner Greg Penner, who is new to pro sports after purchasing the team in Aug. 2022. This was an important opportunity for Payton and Penner to introduce one another.
So are there any teams Payton wouldn’t sign off on? Such as division rivals, like the Carolina Panthers? He wouldn’t say so. Instead, Payton pointed to the NFL’s history of coach trades within the division: Don Shula from the Colts to the Dolphins, Bill Parcells from the Patriots to the Jets, and vice versa with Bill Belichick going from the Jets to the Patriots. His implication is that there wouldn’t be a problem from him in going to Carolina just because it’s a divisional opponent.
However, Payton does know what he wants, and the Panthers don’t exactly fit that description. Few teams do. He rattled off his list of coworkers in the FOX studio and described what kind of special situation he’s looking for. He needs more than an established quarterback to leave a good gig in TV.
“I think that it’s really about the triangular relationship: ownership, front office, and head coach,” Payton reflected on his start in New Orleans back in 2006, when he had to go hunting for a quarterback — and wound up with Drew Brees, one of the greatest passers of all time. He added in summary, “Ownership and the functionality of the front office is most important.”
