Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

I thought this interview was interesting:

https://sports.yahoo.com/sean-payton...151248570.html

Payton says he went to Denver because of his belief in the people there at the top of the food chain, the ownership and GM. He believes he has good instincts with that.

He says that gives you a chance, and the only thing that is a guarantee is you don't have a chance if things at the top of the organization are not right, they can still beat you on a sunday, but if they are dysfunctional at the top you have no chance in the long run. He says that dysfunction is the case for "a lot" of teams in the league. He goes on to talk about having the right people in the building, not just players but everyone, and the attention to detail.

All of this makes me wonder whether or not he is talking about the Saints among those "a lot" of teams. Payton has person experience with only a limited number of organizations. He could be talking about the Cowboys. It would be very hard for him to be talking about the Eagles or Giants who he hasn't worked for in over 20 years. Payton somehow went out of his way to retire from the Saints and immediately start gauging interest in other jobs. He also was prepared to be traded to the Cowboys and reportedly wanted the trade, until Loomis could not pull the trigger due to the timing being too close to the Pelicans trading Anthony Davis. But all this talk of having instincts about a good group at the top, wanting to go to such a team, and engineering his own exit from New Orleans makes me think Payton may be talking about problems he had with ownership and/or executive management at the top of the Saints organization, perhaps after Tom Benson's death or as Tom Benson aged and became less involved.

I am skeptical that Payton just left for a change of scenery. The Broncos are a rough bit of scenery with all their traded away draft picks and their expensive seemingly declining QB. Plenty of head coaches like Belichick, Tomlin, Shula, etc have been legends with one team, and Payton could have been one. All this talk of how important it is to work with the right people at the top of the food chain makes it seem more likely to me that maybe he felt he was working with the wrong people here. After all, if so many teams have dubious ownership/management, and that is the key for a coach to win, why would Payton have wanted out if he had that special rare thing he is talking about here? Why risk ending up in that situation, unless you are already in it?

Also, Payton is smart enough to know somebody may read into it this way. He could easily have added praise for the ownership/GM in New Orleans while praising Denver's, to add credence to his comments as a coach of 241 games for the Saints and 0 so far with Denver, but he didn't.

EDIT ALSO: To be fair, I think its 50/50 whether Payton is talking about the Saints ownership/management here. And if he is, I don't know if his ideas are better or not. Maybe he is just trashing a bunch of teams like the Browns and Raiders who he never worked for and the teams that passed him up in the hiring cycle. Maybe he is mad the Saints didn't do more to trade up for Maholmes or stack the roster his last few years. But maybe also he had more nuanced grievances with Loomis, Gayle, etc and felt they were headed in a wrong direction. Maybe he wanted financial investments the team would not make in training and technology. Maybe he was a good soldier and put a brave face on moves he disagreed with. Maybe some examples of not paying 'attention to detail' would be stuff like constantly misdiagnosing injuries and signing a player to a big contract without getting a medical update on their heart condition.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

He sure could be. And your last comment may be spot on. But we won’t know anytime soon. Interesting take.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Probably more spot on than many realize. It's a certainty SP wanted to GTFOH a few years before... for many reasons we can speculate on. We'll see in the end what happens in the next few years as clarity unfolds.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Idk, Payton said on numerous occasions how much respect he had for the Bensons and the organization. He also had a huge hand in what players they brought in, injury risk or not. The latter of which was partially in an effort to save money due to salary cap manipulation. I believe he had a part in that as well. Helped him get the toys he wanted.
I think Covid, officiating, Goodell and other factors within the NFL as a whole just made him want to do a hard reset.
The crime and overall state of the city didn't help.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

I’d find it hard to believe that he’d win a SB with a team then have doubts about their leadership. Producing the offensive success he had with Brees put him on another level of coaching as well. You mention a couple coaches that stayed put but plenty of others like Reid and his main mentor Parcells had success at multiple organizations. It is not surprising that you’d find an angle that bashes Loomis and company.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Not to mention that the same Ownership and GM believed in Payton, when he strung together multiple lackluster seasons.

Regardless, Payton isn't our coach anymore so it really doesn't matter what he has to say or what people "think he's thinking" lol just move on.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

To be fair, that's one of the privileges we have as fans, to be able to opine, even if misguided. It's part of the fun in reality. :bng:

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Let’s also not forget that Payton had Vicodin and bountygate scandals under his watch too. It’s not like his leadership as HC wasn’t scandal free.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

SP is the real prima donna. I got them going 7-10.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

It is, and if I’m being honest with myself, if this thought would’ve come from someone beside bako I’d probably give it a little more merit. He is just so obviously and adamantly against Loomis and Company that anything he writes on the subject I take with a grain of salt. My own feeling I guess.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

:rofl:

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

He probably wanted to go to Denver so he could smoke some good pot !

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Yep, super petty.

And I agree, the Broncos could get exposed this season.

Anyways, SP isn't our problem any longer :smokin:.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Just Saying …

All respect to Coach Payton for what he gave to the City and Organization. Why did he want to leave? All the points made, based on personal interpretation of publicly know issues and events. Sports team as do most business will never open the back door to a full behind the scene’s truth be told.

Loomis needs to be credited with bringing Payton to NO and probably following Payton in the recruiting of Brees. Those 2 together were a huge part of bring respect and a SB to NO.

Payton success and tenure brought more and more say into the drafting, signing of free agents and roster building … rightfully so.

Salary Cap Management and the front office have been frequently blamed for monies available for lack of quality veteran free agents signings the last few years.

With Paytons early success with mostly middle tier drafted players and trying to repeat that success unfortunately just did not work out. A series of poor drafts and bad free agent signing over several years probably lead in large part to bringing Jeff Ireland onboard.

After the improved drafts combined with front office approach to identify and make the moves needed to get players they wanted. I know I know , like love hate plenty of each.

Payton again brought in QB projects with the confidence he could coach, mold and bring result similar in some degree to his run with Brees.

We saw 4 of those project QBs fail or show little possible chance of long term success. Injuries played a part in that QB failure. But the biggest failure was in continuing down the QB reclamation road rather than getting a true starting QB in retrospect.

Does anyone doubt that had Payton wanted any of the starting NFL QB’s available in that 4 year period that Loomis and the front office would not have made that happen. Dis Payton want that or did want to prove is QB Whisperer media imagine.

Some would have rolled their eyes but with Loomis and Kai salary cap management would not have been the issue preventing such a move.

Payton statements about ownership could just as well be about his latest coaching job search. Cardinals … seriously with that ownership and QB. Dallas can’t imagine having to work with Ole Jer, Cowgirls will continue be underwhelming as long as Ole Ger controls. Payton ain’t going there because he wants control and final say in football operations. Again we don’t know who else he spoke with.

After last year debacle in Denver you have to think they, Denver owners, gave him the keys to the castle. Good for him.

At the end of all these discussions we make assumptions on information we have access, which is seldom the complete, full and factual information.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

I wish him all the best. Take care

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

It's got to better than that crap they sell in Amsterdam. My lungs hurt when I left and it wasn't from all the walking. :smokin:

Edit: this was supposed to be a quote about Payton leaving here to go smoke pot in Denver. Lucky bas****!

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Also very possible. I would guess 8-9. I believe Payton is a better coach than Allen, but I am not sure Wilson is a better QB than Winston or Dalton. If Wilson goes down in flames and everyone knows Denver isnt benching him because they financially can’t that locker room could implode. In general I don’t expect 2024 to be a good year for teams that fired their DC for being good.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

I loved the coach while he was here. But he always came off as a jerk and REAL corny to me.
Still got love for him though.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Not a good look with the recent Payton’s comments about previous coaching staff front offices etc. Though true not sure what these statements accomplishing in regards to Team Building. I would bet the owners are not thrilled with that sort of publicity.

So if Wilson proves to be bad even with the QB whisper at the helm and the Broncos team under performs Payton standing will take a big hit.

Keep thinking … Belichick - Brady Payton - Brees. Obviously great coaches but both franchises fortunes changes dramatically once their long time QB’s left.

McDaniels was not the magic behind the Patriots offense as shown in his time with Patriots post Brady and so with both his head coaching stops. Belichick’s defense is still capable of shutting down most offenses but without that elite QB his future is not certain even with all his success in New England.

What have you done for me lately.

Same same with the Saints have no doubt we will have a really good defense this year because for all the criticism of Coach Allen, like Belichick, he coaches and calls a very good defensive scheme/unit.

Will Coach Carmichael offensive game planning and playing calling improve with Carr, only time will tell. If the offense does not perform significantly better than the last couple years it’s on Carmichael. With the sum of the overall talent we have on offense it would be hard not to lay blame at his position.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

There are two ways to have the biggest house in town. You eithe rbuild your own or you tear every one elses down.

Don't really understand what SP is trying to accomplish talking like that.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Quote from Rogers

“ And, it made me feel bad that someone who’s accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some sort of easy fall if it doesn’t go well for that team this year. I thought it was way out of line, inappropriate and I think he needs to keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth."

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

We'll see if Payton is right or not. All I know is that when it comes to ownership Gayle is at the top of the list.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

How do we know if Gayle is a good owner or not? She seems like a nice lady who would donate to the library and attend the theatre. We are not behind the scenes. Its possible she has some traits as an owner that Payton does not like as he did seem to get more happy feet when she took over from
Tom. Maybe she wouldnt make certain investments outside the roster. Maybe she was too loyal to certain players and staff in a way that reduced the coaches authority. Maybe other execs were more her favorites than Payton. We don’t know. She is clearly not a loud egomaniac who wants to run the draft but she may or may not be the ideal owner.

Aaron Rodgers made a living trash talking the Bears and Lions. The Bears lost a lot and he talked about it. Well last year his OC lost a lot, so Payton talked about it. Rodgers should stick to throwing the football because he ain’t in a position to be without sin casting any stones.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

How do we know if Gayle Benson is a good owner? That's a fair question and a good point. Here's my counter point. When Tom Benson bought the Saints he ran them like a used car salesman. If a player had value he would trade them to make a fast profit. He changed his way of thinking after he hired Loomis. He began investing his money back into the team. Then he spent money upgrading the training facilities, as well as getting funding for the Super dome renovations that have kept the old girl viable among the "Jerry worlds".

When Tom Benson met Gayle the system was already in place for an owner to let his people do their job without getting too involved. I'm pretty sure that she never played football and I don't believe her dad was a coach so she is hands off. The system has been set in place with a strong front office and consistently good coaching that keeps her involved as the face of what an NFL owner should look like.

But, the key point is that she will spend the money to make her players happy and successful. Unlike the Raiders organization or some of those other tight wads. When disaster strikes Gayle Benson opens up her check book and takes the team out of town bringing their families and even their pets with them.

She doesn't get in trouble with the league or embarrass the fans like some owners do and she presents herself like a southern lady should. Last year she called out Godhell for baselessly fining Cam, Loomis and DA for a fake injury and has always had the teams back.

Did I mention our winning record with her as an owner? I don't know what you expect from an owner but those are good enough for me to believe that Gayle is a good owner.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Give up, Rugs. Bako's hatred is deep rooted. From the few quoted replies that pop up I see he continues to post nothing but venom toward the ownership and management and any apparent success by the team makes no difference in his mind. If he hates the team so much why doesn't he just move on to another team more to his liking? Seriously. He and the cow guy are just two peas in a pod.

https://media.istockphoto.com/id/137...qyZz_bfcLo9rA=

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

What is your definition of a good owner?

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Amazing response to be honest.

Could not have said it any better myself.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

I believe he wanted to "Prove" to himself as well as the rest of the NFL that he could indeed win without Drew Brees. It was impressive that in his final season as Saints Head Coach he used: Jameis Winston, Taysom Hill, Trevor Siemian and even Ian Book. 4 different QB'S, a winning season and no Drew Brees. After pulling that off he had nothing else to prove here and moved on, just like his Mentor: Bill Parcells!

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Interesting as well that he “moved on” to a team that had a QB that has been to 2 SBs already. Not exactly a developmental guy.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

This seems like a big stretch. You are saying that after an 11 year Super Bowl drought Payton had nothing left to prove, because he showed he could still win without Drew Brees? What winning without Drew Brees meant was going 9-8 in only the 2nd year of the 17 game season, by winning the final game, in a meaningless contest where the eliminated division rival Falcons improved their draft position. It wouldn't have even been a winning season prior to 2020 it would have been 8-8. Based on this logic Bill Belichick should have retired after 2008, when he showed he could win without Tom Brady, since he is also a Parcells disciple. Also, Payton is known as an offensive guru, and the 2021 team went 9-8 on the strength of defense. It just doesn't compute that a Super Bowl winning head coach in the midst of a 10 year Super Bowl drought would have nothing to prove but that he can limp to 9-8 on the strength of the side of the ball he doesn't coach, and do it without a star QB, and to prove any more, he would have to go back and get a star QB again.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

I mean, he took the job that was available. I don't think a team with a 1st round pick QB made an offer. We don't know how Payton would do developing a 1st round pick QB because he has never tried. He did make Winston look better than others did.

Re: Reading into Sean Payton Interview on Importance of Ownership/GM.
 

Gayle is obviously not a terrible owner. But I still think its possible Payton had issues with her. There are other ways to have flaws as an owner than being a cheapskate. If Gayle had flaws as an owner, I would guess she might be too loyal to too many people and side with doing what's nice. Contrary to being a cheapskate, that could lead to overpaying players, keeping players too long, and having too many cooks in the kitchen in the front office. Last year we had two defensive coordinators. For many years we have basically had two GMs in Loomis and Ireland. We have 4 QBs and a million TEs, one of which is kind of neither. When faced with an opening at head coach we did not hire externally because then somebody would have to be let go, we promoted a guy with a highly questionable resume bc he waited his turn nicely, and then when that opened up the DC position we couldn't decide who to promote so we lost both a year later because we thought we could make everyone happy by giving them both the title and really it worked for neither. One could view all this as a form of dysfunctional charity. We were widely expected to part ways with Jameis Winston, Andrus Peat, and Michael Thomas this offseason but we kept all three. Gayle seems like a nice woman, but I am not sure if she or anyone in the organization is fostering a culture of accountability and expectations for excellence. We did actually win our ring under Tom. Then again, if Payton did have frustrations with Gayle, maybe it was just him wanting even more control than she would give, or wanting to cash in on a $10 million per year deal.