SmashMouth

Sometimes change brings concern, which creates panic, which creates rumors and speculation.

No one really knows what is going on, so they begin guessing. And once enough people start making similar guesses, it’s perceived as fact. This is the reality the New Orleans Saints recently found themselves in. As they read and listened and watched the reports about what was happening, or supposedly happening, in New Orleans the past few weeks, it was almost comical.

Coach Sean Payton found himself looking down on his screen, reading a report from a New York newspaper that the Jets should or could trade for Drew Brees. There was another one about Cam Jordan being shopped to the New York Giants. He heard the reports that his organization was trying to trade anyone and everyone who wore a Saints uniform last year.

It’s all false. Brees was never discussed in a trade, New Orleans is discussing a long-term deal with Jordan, and there were only a handful of players the Saints were willing to trade.

It might not look like it to the outside, but the team has a calm and measured plan to rebound from last season’s 7-9 finish. It doesn’t involve trading away the quarterback and then trading up for former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. It’s about building around Brees, finding a way to improve last year’s defense, and ultimately becoming better.

The talk is all garbage to him. It’s annoying. But it’s something Payton knows he has to deal with.

“You just wad that up and throw it in the garbage, and hopefully it doesn’t come across your eyes again,” Payton said. “How do you react to it all? You’d go nuts. So, tune it out.”

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