Earlier this week, a report from the Sun Sentinel stated that the Miami Dolphins were willing to give former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton a five-year, $100 million deal.
Although there is currently no indication that Payton will return to the sidelines to coach in the NFL again, there have been a lot of rumors floating around over the past few months.
If Payton decides he wants to coach next season, the Saints will need to work out a trade. So, what can they get in return for Payton? NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated answered that question in his latest mailbag.
Breer believes there’s a very good chance the Saints can land a first-round pick in return for Payton.
A great head coach is almost always worth more than a first-round pick, with the exception being that the first-round pick is a franchise quarterback. (If, for example, I was running the Jaguars in 2021, I wouldn’t have traded the first pick for any coach, since Trevor Lawrence was there.) So the chances someone thinks Payton is worth a first-rounder? In the new NFL, where first-rounders aren’t valued like they used to be? Pretty good, I’d say.
Payton, 58, left the Saints with a 152-89 record. His worst record over the past five seasons was 9-8.
In the event that multiple teams express interest in Payton next offseason, a bidding war could potentially break out for the 2009 Super Bowl champion.