This is a tough look for Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill. At one point, Sean Payton was the betting favorite to become his team’s new head coach — Bidwill talked up Payton’s vision for the team and how he enjoyed their productive meeting in Arizona. But Payton ended up with the Denver Broncos, and Bidwill says it’s because he couldn’t sign off on meeting the Saints’ trade demands.
“It was all the compensation, the draft compensation,” Bidwill said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “We just weren’t willing to go with what the Saints wanted us to give up. It would have been too costly to the team for us to rebuild that roster. It was really a series of tradeoffs. I still felt like we got great coaches out there who could get this team turned around.”
Now, the Cardinals had to reach a general understanding of what the Saints were seeking to get back in trading Payton before they ever hosted him for an interview; judging from Bidwill’s quote, they were willing to do that to get him in the building, but when it came time to negotiate with New Orleans they weren’t willing to haggle the Saints down. Which makes since given the Denver Broncos’ involvement as a competing suitor.
The Saints eventually traded Payton to the Broncos in exchange for a first-round pick in 2023, also swapping their 2024 third rounder for a second-round choice. Arizona could have pulled off a similar deal, but their roster is further away from playing competitively, so it didn’t make as much sense to push their chips in like this.
We’ll revisit this in a few years and see how things turned out for all involved. Maybe the Cardinals aren’t as far back as they seem. Maybe Payton proves to be less of an asset than expected (or maybe he’s even more important to Denver’s success). Maybe the Saints can put the picks they did get to good use.