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Here’s the best information we’ve got yet on what comes next for New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. This comes from FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer on 1053 The Fan in Dallas, a close friend of Payton’s who has been the first to break news on everything from the Jimmy Graham trade in 2014 to his contract extension in 2019. When Glazer reports Saints news, it’s coming directly from Payton.
And he says Payton is considering a retirement from coaching in the NFL — a trade to another team isn’t on the table. It appears to be New Orleans or nothing for Payton.
“Sean changes his mind like every two seconds, we talk about it a lot, it’s why I haven’t reported anything because he changes his mind like every two minutes,” Glazer said, adding: “But that’s also why I said two weeks ago on FOX NFL Sunday during the coaching carousel was that there could be a coach or two step away just because these last two years of COVID, it’s taken its toll on people.”
COVID-19 issues have impacted every team throughout the pandemic, but those problems combined with a host of other factors — injuries, suspensions, and a hurricane evacuation — to frustrate Payton and his Saints staff in particular. It’s something Glazer said weighed on him.
Glazer continued: “But look at this year. That team, man I don’t know how many guys they had on I.R. They played a game with like ten defensive starters out, and four offensive starters out, his quarterbacks out. But he just keeps going back and forth. He’s been in Cabo these last couple weeks, he just got back so he’s supposed to meet with Mrs. Benson here in the early part of the week.”
So that’s reassuring, to an extent. We won’t see Payton coaching the Dallas Cowboys or the Chicago Bears or the New York Giants, or any other team propped up by annoying fans. But we could very well see Payton make the jump to a broadcast studio, leaving New Orleans shorthanded.
But we don’t know yet exactly what’s going to happen. Glazer added that Payton’s upcoming conversation with team ownership is going to be important — it’s something Gayle Benson said she’s looking forward to herself. Hopefully we’ll get a resolution in the days ahead, but Payton waffling on the decision like this sure doesn’t make it seem like he’s too eager to hang up his hat.
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