The long saga has finally come to an end as Sean Payton has decided to join the Denver Broncos as their new head coach.
During the process of this head coaching search cycle, Payton interviewed with the Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Broncos before coming to an agreement with Denver. The massive deal is reported to be for five years and pay between $17 million and $20 million annually. And of course, this acquisition was completed in the form of a trade with the Saints who still owned Payton’s rights.
The compensation for the Saints will be Denver’s first round pick in 2023 (29th overall) and their second round pick in 2024. The Saints will send back a 2024 third round pick as part of the exchange.
My quick thoughts on the trade is that the Saints came out with a huge win for a number of reasons:
1) PAYTON HEADS TO THE AFC
A scenario where he coached in Carolina, no matter what the return, was potentially directly devastating to New Orleans. Right now things are completely in flux in the NFC South and you’d be arming a direct opponent with an elite head coach. Not only is he not in the NFC South, he’s not in the NFC at all. So at most the Saints would play Payton once every four years, and potentially in the Super Bowl if both teams got that far. That’s it. Payton’s tenure in Denver poses little to no threat to the Saints’ success over the next five years, which is a very welcomed development.
2) PAYTON IS COACHING IN 2023
It looked for a minute like Payton wasn’t going to get a job at all. Denver was trending towards Demeco Ryans and Jim Harbaugh. Ryans ended up in Houston, and Harbaugh decided to stay at the University of Michigan. The Panthers hired Frank Reich, and for a moment it looked like the only hope of stopping Payton from returning to Fox was the Cardinals. Given the way things were playing out, getting a 1st round pick and then some out of the deal is a welcomed development. The return is about as much as you could hope for under the circumstances of his market.
3) NO CLOUD OVER ALLEN
You no longer have this situation hanging over your head. The prospect of Dennis Allen losing again next season would have potentially fueled a media frenzy calling for Payton’s return to the Saints for another year. And then, if the Saints decided against that, they would have to deal with another offseason of doing this whole song and dance all over again – trying to trade Payton for compensation. The weight and wait of that situation would have been taxing and arduous. Now, this is all behind the Saints and they can move past Sean Payton’s legacy, and forward with some draft capital to show for it. This is no longer hanging over their heads with uncertainty like a dark cloud.
This is a new era for Payton and the Broncos. He will tasked with reviving Russell Wilson’s career as he competes in a loaded division against Patrick Mahomes’s Kansas City Chiefs and Justin Herbert’s Los Angeles Chargers. Meanwhile, this gives the Saints a fighting chance to overhaul a struggling offense to stay competitive in a weak NFC South that just said goodbye to Tom Brady.
This also gives Mickey Loomis a slight reprieve for trading away the 2024 first round pick to the Eagles. That pick is 10th overall so it was clearly a mistake in hindsight. The Saints expected to be a better team competing for the NFC South this season. While this doesn’t undo that trade, it allows for Loomis to add talent 19 picks later.
Ultimately, if the Saints see growth from Chris Olave and Trevor Penning (their two 2023 first round picks) and they are able to land a productive player at 29 overall, they’ll be in a good position to improve offensively.
Andrew Juge is the co-host of “The Saints Happy Hour Podcast.” He can be followed on Twitter @AndrewJuge