Week 12 is in the books and the 2023 NFL draft order projections have updated, so it’s as good a time as any to speculate on which teams might be in the hunt for Sean Payton — and what the New Orleans Saints could gain should he move on to a new team in a few months.
But let’s start with the Saints. They traded their 2023 first round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles so they could get another first rounder in 2022 (which became left tackle Trevor Penning), and right now that draft choice is projected to fall at No. 6 overall. That gives the Super Bowl-contender Eagles a highly valuable draft pick which the Saints could dearly use.
The good news is the Saints could end up with a high first rounder of their own should Payton be traded to a new team in 2023. Some franchises have already been linked to his interests, and others make sense as long-shot suitors, so let’s take a look at where each of them are slotted in: