Sean Payton stepped down from his role with the New Orleans Saints in 2021 and he is now drawing interest from other teams who are seeking a head coach.
Payton still has two more years remaining on his contract with the Saints, so if a team hires him, that club will have to compensate New Orleans in a trade in order to acquire Payton’s coaching rights.
The Denver Broncos are among the teams who have received permission from the Saints to interview Payton, and they have scheduled an in-person interview for Jan. 17. If that interview goes well and the Broncos want to hire Payton, they will have to work out a deal with New Orleans.
It doesn’t happen often, but trading for a coach is not unprecedented in the NFL.
This is not an exhaustive list of every coach trade in pro football history, but it includes seven examples of coach trades since the league’s NFL/AFL merger in 1970.