Sean Payton is still making the media rounds while hunting offers for his own job in TV covering the NFL, and the former New Orleans Saints head coach making his latest appearance on the Green Light podcast with Chris Long, the retired NFL defensive end who spent 11 years in the pros and won a pair of Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots (in 2016) and Philadelphia Eagles (in 2017).
It’s a really good — and wide-ranging, hour-long — listen with Payton candidly talking about the importance of getting his players their performance bonuses (like Emmanuel Sanders cashing in a bonus for receptions in 2020), recruiting Tony Romo out of their shared alma mater at Eastern Illinois, also reflecting on his long NFL coaching career, discussing his experience as an assistant on Bill Parcells’ staff and his long, successful run leading the Saints in New Orleans.
But Payton hasn’t always gotten the players he’s wanted most. His Saints tenure was full of swings and misses, coming up short in pursuit of players like Romo (again), Marshawn Lynch, Malcolm Butler, Josh Norman, Ndamukong Suh, and Jadeveon Clowney. It’s a frustrating trend that Payton says started way back in 2000, when he was the New York Giants’ offensive coordinator — who tried and failed to get Tom Brady in his quarterbacks room.
