Panthers won’t hire Sean Payton, announce Frank Reich as their new head coach

The Carolina Panthers announced Frank Reich as their new head coach, meaning they won’t be hiring Sean Payton:

The first domino has fallen in the 2023 NFL hiring cycle with the Carolina Panthers announcing Frank Reich as their new head coach on Thursday. This means several things for the New Orleans Saints — principally that they won’t be trading former head coach Sean Payton to Carolina, and that the Saints will not have a shot at acquiring the No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 draft.

This also means that New Orleans will be playing against Reich’s team twice a year while competing for the NFC South crown. And there’s an argument to be made that Reich is already the best head coach in the division simply by walking in the door. He got a raw deal with mercurial ownership pushing the Indianapolis Colts to acquire one washed-up quarterback after the next before booting him after achieving a 40-33-1 record, and now he’s in position to fully evaluate the upcoming draft class and spend a top-10 pick on a quarterback prospect of his choosing.

Reich enters the NFC South with the highest career winning percentage of all four head coaches:

  1. Frank Reich, Carolina Panthers (.547)
  2. Arthur Smith, Atlanta Falcons (.412)
  3. Todd Bowles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (.405)
  4. Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints (.283)

So this might be bad for the Saints from several different perspectives. The best possible trade package for Payton is off the table, and a Panthers team that swept them without a quarterback last year just landed a good play caller with his pick of options to place under center. It’ll be curious to see how other head coach vacancies are filled and whether Payton joins a new team in 2023 or returns to FOX Sports for another year of speculation and rumormongering. Hopefully things take a more positive turn for New Orleans in the days and weeks ahead.

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