Sean Payton is retiring, according to multiple reports.
That could mean something intriguing for the Super Bowl-winning Saints coach and longtime Dallas resident, with Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy in limbo as Jerry Jones stews over another disappointing playoff exit. Many league sources believe Payton wants to step away from the game entirely for a year, with some sources believing he’ll find a way to the Cowboys in 2023.
He is under contract with New Orleans for three more years, so any team would have to trade for him to acquire him — unless Payton finds a way out of his contract entirely, though that wouldn’t benefit the club. So it remains to be seen how Payton defines this respite and what he negotiates with the Saints.
Numerous New York Daily News league sources had been saying for the past 10 days that Payton wanted out of New Orleans.
Payton did not return phone calls from the Daily News to confirm or deny the noise, but sources say he wasn’t returning anyone’s calls.
He was on vacation, and a source said that Payton just showed up back at the Saints’ facility on Monday, ready to talk with ownership and the front office.
Owner Gayle Benson’s Monday comments about her uncertainty on Payton’s future were ominous, and they were also confirmation of where the situation stood.
Sources believe the Saints tried in the past two days to convince Payton to stay. But many believe the absence of a franchise QB, plus the painstaking short-term in New Orleans promised by a brutal salary cap situation, had deterred Payton from returning.
Life after Drew Brees has been difficult, and now Payton is stepping away. He’s been here before, returning refreshed after he was suspended for the entire 2012 season in the fallout of the Bountygate scandal.
