Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

Kind of surprising this hasn't gotten out before now.

New Orleans Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights - ESPN

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

And ESPN reporting it, no less.

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

No question in my mind, Payton lost the locker room early on and couldn't keep order. A lot of people here laughed in preseason at Jimmy Graham's dunks and penalties, openly flaunting and defying Payton,and they said it wasn't a big deal. But I'm telling you, it sent a message early in the year to the younger guys, hey, you don't have to listen to coach, it's okay to be spoiled and just do whatever you want....once that set the tone, nobody listened to anything else the coaches had to say. If a bigshot star like Jimmy doesn't listen to the coach, and openly defies him, why should I listen to coach either? I'll just get drunk or high or miss film study or show up to the meeting when I'm good and ready, whenever I get around to it..

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

Worse than that, I hear on multiple occasions Albert Connel was surveying the locker room for unattended wallets.

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

Over- privileged punks. They have a million dollar ticket and they're pissing it away. Idiots.

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

What do you think Belichick would have done?

Bill would have sat Jimmy's ass week 1. Don't think so? Bill did sit Grey after rushing for 200+ and 3TDs because he was late for a meeting. That organization/coach knows what he is doing and controls the team completely. You play ball the way Bill wants or your ass is gone.

Apparently Payton has no backbone anymore because these players that missed meetings and planes would have been cut the next day if it were Belichick.

Edit: Remember Payton's meeting with 10 players? I bet a good portion of it had to do with this type of stuff, and Payton's meeting didn't do ****.

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

I'll take a different route here.
Maybe, just maybe Payton went to the "leaders" on his team and asked them if they could "deal with all the knuckleheads."
Maybe he trusted them.

Like any parent knows, you let your kids have a certain amount of freedom until they prove they can't handle it. Then you step in an handle it.
Lesson learned.

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

And defensive tackle John Jenkins was left behind on a road trip for a game for an unspecified reason early in the year.

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

Coach needs to find replacements for those players in FA and the draft this year and cut the weeds out to send a message. If we're not winning with you, we don't need you.

Re: Among Saints' issues: Too many guys late for meetings, flights
 

Maybe Coach will come down from the Ivory Tower and rebuild the team. Or he may move on like the Tuna did and shadow his mentor.