Oh, come on. There’s a whirlwind of speculation surrounding former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, and where he’ll return to coach in a year or two. Payton isn’t going to be free to entertain all offers, seeing as he’s still under contract with the Saints through 2024, but it’s about as close to free agency as someone in his position would reach. And he’s already looking at his options.
During his appearance on Monday night’s simulcast with Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, Payton was asked about Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson — someone the Saints were tightly connected to ahead of the 2018 NFL draft, and who Payton had singled out as a quarterback he respected highly coming out of Louisville, having praised Jackson’s leadership and playmaking ability.
To which Payton coyly responded that, “He has a chance to be a free agent, and I have a chance to be a free agent.”
Now, it’s more complicated than that. Jackson will almost assuredly not reach free agency without first receiving the franchise tag from Baltimore. Any team that hires Payton in the spring must trade compensation back to New Orleans. So while Payton may or may not be intimating anything here, it’s really difficult to see a scenario where he and Jackson end up working together.
But that’s beside the point. Payton some real nerve in even suggesting a teamup when he chose to not draft Jackson back in 2018. Instead, he made a foolish trade up the board targeting Marcus Davenport as the one-missing-piece the Saints needed to win another Super Bowl. Needless to say that championship win didn’t materialize, and Davenport has never reached his potential in New Orleans. The point is that Payton had a golden opportunity to get a franchise quarterback he believed in, chose not to do that, and now he’s kicked back chatting with Peyton Manning about his career options. If he likes Jackson so much, why didn’t he draft him? It’s almost appalling.
So, hey, we’ll see whether or not anything comes of this (it’s unlikely anything will). Shooting the breeze with an old peer on a Monday night isn’t exactly laying the groundwork for moves that would shift the NFL’s landscape. But it’s awful frustrating to see Payton even joking about his next opportunities when he left the Saints in such a sorry state. Hopefully things turn around soon.