There are reports and rumors within the NFL that the New Orleans Saints are actively shopping their head coach, Sean Payton. There are four teams said to be interested in trading for the 2008-2009 season super bowl winner. The Giants, the Dolphins, the Eagles, and 49ers are the four teams named.
Many speculate that if the Saints were to trade Payton, it would be to the Giants and their owner John Mara, who openly said he would be willing to trade draft picks for a coach.
Payton’s record since becoming a head coach is 87-57 (.604).
Saints Interested in Moving Head Coach Sean Payton
However, many players and officials around the league are skeptical about his role in the bounty scandal from 2009 to 2011, in which the NFL concluded after a thorough two year investigation that Saints defensive players were paid extra to knock opposing players out of their games, with Brett Favre being one of the Saints known targets. Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season for not coming out about the Saints then defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ “slush fund”.
There had been speculation the Saints would trade Payton the last few weeks, and rumors heated up after the separation between the Giants and their coach Tom Coughlin on Monday. The 49ers fired coach Jim Tomsula on Sunday after their 19-16 win over the Rams. Chip Kelly was fired as the Eagles head coach last Sunday. Dan Campbell is still an option for the Dolphins, as he was only their interim head coach after Joe Philbin had been fired on October 5th after a 1-3 start to the season.
Another potential landing spot for Payton could be the Cleveland Browns. Mike Pettine was fired Sunday after a 3-13 season. The Browns have had a history of trouble and failure at the quarterback position, while Payton has a good track record with his quarterbacks, with Saints quarterback Drew Brees throwing for over 4,000 yards each season since 2006, the year he joined the team.
The Giants are reportedly the team most likely to acquire Payton’s services if he is traded. The Saints are hoping to land draft picks, which the Giants said that they would be willing to move.
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