Jeff Duncan on Sean Payton 2023

The reason I figured Payton would never come back is because I never envisioned that Allen would be in jeopardy of losing his job after one season. Most of us thought this was a playoff team, and you don't fire a playoff coach to bring back the old coach. (And Payton probably wouldn't agree to come back if it meant firing his friend.) But if Allen is going to get fired anyway...

If Payton wants to return, he could do worse than New Orleans. There is probably no other place where he would be as comfortably in charge as he would be here. Others have already mentioned that some of the teams he's being linked to are cheap. And even if he would be given a lot of control to start, that can change very quickly.

So I could see him coming back. I don't think it's particularly likely, but I could see it.