Huh? The Carolina Panthers are reportedly hoping to pull off a coup and trade for former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton after the 2022 season, per Front Office Sports’ Mike McCarthy. Payton has been linked to a studio analysis job with FOX Sports as well as an undefined position with Amazon, and he’s spoken before about wanting to try his hand at broadcasting before he’ll return to coaching. It does make sense for bad teams like the Panthers to be interested.
The Panthers specifically don’t make a lot of sense, though. Embattled coach Matt Rhule is among the betting favorites to be the first coach canned this year after a 10-23 start to his run with Carolina. As a rudderless team without a viable quarterback, it’s tough to see much for Payton to like there. And as one of New Orleans’ NFC South division rivals, the cost to trade for Payton’s contract should be significantly higher than other teams around the league. McCarthy posited a return of “as high as a first- or second-round draft pick” to trade for Payton, but that’s far beneath the price the Saints ought to be seeking, and doesn’t seem too realistic given precedent around the NFL.
To be frank, this feels like more daydreaming from Panthers owner David Tepper. He tried to trade for Matthew Stafford and failed. Then he spent an entire calendar year recruiting Deshaun Watson and couldn’t seal the deal. He’s got a half-built practice facility he’s opting not to finance rusting away in South Carolina. Tepper tends to talk a big game and not follow through, and this scuttlebutt about him hoping to land Sean Payton a year from now tracks with his other half-baked schemes.
What’s clear is that Payton will have a ton of options once he’s ready to return to coaching — and teams won’t wait long to start trying to hire him. Whether it’s the Panthers or the Miami Dolphins or the Dallas Cowboys or the Los Angeles Chargers or some other outfit desperate for relevance, we should anticipate quite a bidding war once Payton signals he’s ready to talk shop. Unrealistic as Carolina may be, it sure would make for terrific content.
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