Adam Schefter doesn’t think the Chargers will go after Sean Payton pic.twitter.com/BPuXyJPXNQ
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) January 15, 2023
Here’s a splash of cold water from Adam Schefter. ESPN’s foremost Sunday morning splash reporter addressed the elephant in the room following the Los Angeles Chargers’ stunning playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday night — with former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton having made no secret of his interest in their head coach job over the last year, it’s been widely expected that the Chargers would dismiss second-year coach Brandon Staley and pursuit the Super Bowl XLIV winner.
But Schefter suggested that Chargers ownership isn’t willing to spend what it would take to recruit Payton.
“It’s hard to see this franchise, with its history, being as aggressive as it would need to be to go get Sean Payton, as much he might be able to help that franchise,” Schefter said Sunday. “I don’t know how realistic that is.”
The team is owned by the unpopular Spanos family, who abandoned an established fanbase in San Diego to relocate their franchise to Los Angeles in a cost-saving move, partnering with the Rams in building SoFi Stadium. Staley is one of the lowest-paid head coaches around the league at about $4 million per year, and the Chargers are one of the few teams to still bicker with drafted rookies over contract language after recent collective bargaining agreements made such signings a paint-by-numbers process.
In other words, the Chargers are too tightfisted to pay Payton like one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches at around $20 million per year. That’s in addition to the draft capital going to New Orleans in a potential trade for Payton’s coaching rights. So, based off what Schefter is hearing and looking at their past decisions, it doesn’t look like Chargers management will act as aggressively to pursue Payton as everyone from their team’s fans to maybe Payton himself hope them to.
Instead, Schefter says, expect the Chargers to make some minor coaching staff changes like hiring a new coordinator or two and shuffling the position coaches. That might be enough to get them back to the playoffs in 2023 but it’s hardly the blockbuster upgrade many observers are looking for.
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