Sean Payton is stepping away as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, according to multiple reports. Payton had been mulling his future all offseason to this point, but it comes as a huge surprise around the NFL that he finally stepped down from New Orleans on Tuesday.
Just this week, there were rumblings that the Chicago Bears might revisit trading for the Super Bowl-winning coach this offseason. The Dallas Cowboys have always been rumored to be interested in the services of Payton. However, SI’s Albert Breer did mention television as a likely landing spot for Payton once he finally decided to step away on a new episode of The Dan Patrick Show this week.
TV for Sean Payton?
For Payton, he walks away one season after his long-time signal-caller, Drew Brees, walked away. Like Payton is rumored to be, Brees immediately went into TV on NBC with Mike Tirico and company. Now that he is no longer a head coach in the NFL, this opens the door for Payton to transition into a television role.
It was a tough season for the New Orleans Saints. They lost their starting quarterback Jameis Winston early this season and had four different quarterbacks in total, including rookie QB Ian Book, make a spot-start appearance for his Saints this season. The team also just missed making the playoffs.
Sean Payton first came to New Orleans in 2006. Since taking over the job, he went a combined 152-89 and won one Super Bowl versus Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts. Before this season, Payton’s teams had not missed the postseason since 2016. The streak ended the exact next season after Drew Brees retired in New Orleans.
Only time will tell what Sean Payton does next. Along with who the Saints choose to replace the veteran head coach with.
Change in New Orleans
Change is inevitable. It’s also inevitable when it comes to New Orleans. The team just lost their franchise signal-caller. Now their veteran head coach. Both are likely Hall-of-fame bound in the coming years. That’s not going to be easy to replace, but they do have two in-house options in Pete Carmichael as OC and Dennis Allen as DC. It could make sense for the Saints to promote from within with how successful the team has been.
The team also has to decide on Winston’s future with the team, especially with Taysom Hill’s large contract at QB. Replacing Brees is hard, but replacing Payton the following year might prove to be even harder for one of the most successful franchises of the past decade down their in New Orleans. Still, both Brees and Payton got their Super Bowl ring in the 2009 season. A moment Saints fans will never forget.
