Jeff Duncan on Sean Payton 2023

Chopper Man said

He is not free to go anywhere except to the Saints if he wants to come back next season. The Saints would have to allow him to go somewhere else and that price tag is high.

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On top of not free to go, the teams that Payton’s interested in don’t have upcoming imminent openings. Staley and Kingsbury doesn’t appear to lack control of their locker rooms. Both have a lot of money tied to them in their first HC contract and first year of extension.

Payton doesn’t hold the cards with the Saints or the teams that he’s/his circle’s telling the media that he’s interested in. His media interviews can’t really be taken for more than being interview responses primarily. By default, contractually, his #1 option is the Saints. The other teams he’s interested in doesn’t mean anything unless they fire their coaches which isn’t a given financially even if it’s for a HOF coach.