Patrick Sean Payton is a former American football coach and quarterback. He served as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League from 2006 to 2021, leading the franchise to its very first Super Bowl victory during the 2009 season.
Sean Payton: Press conference| Retires| Why was suspended
Press Conference:
Because the Saints treat cap space like the Rams treat draft picks, New Orleans will be entering another offseason with no money to spend. Actually, “no money” would be considered an upgrade over the Saints’ current financial situation.
According to Over the Cap, the team is projected to be $74 million over the 2022 salary cap. For another team, that would ordinarily be cause for concern, but this is just what the Saints do.
Retires:
One season without Drew Brees was enough for Sean Payton. After 16 years in New Orleans—15 of those spent coaching the future Hall of Fame quarterback—Payton stepped down from his post as Saints head coach Tuesday.
They’ve been in proverbial “cap hell” for nearly a decade now—here’s a blog from 2015 about the team’s cap issues—but every year, things turn out just fine, thanks in large part to general manager Mickey Loomis and his contract wizard Khai Harley.
Why was suspended:
Benson’s unfamiliarity with Payton’s future is a sign the former Super Bowl winning coach is seriously contemplating walking away. The only additional news about Sean Payton came Tuesday in a tweet from Saints beat reporter Jeff Duncan. Duncan said that Payton met with general manager Mickey Loomis on Monday for a couple of hours to talk, but didn’t have any further information.
Fox Sports reporter Jay Glazer initially brought up the idea a couple of weeks ago that there would be some unexpected head coaching vacancies in this hiring cycle.
Glazer couldn’t say for sure what Payton would do, but said that the head coach changes his mind every couple of seconds.
