Sean Payton opens up about why he left the Saints (merged)

nakadish said

I'm not convinced that Payton isn't washed up. Not that he's a not a play caller anymore but look at how much talent DA was able to bring in, in just 2 years with the same cap issues that Payton had to deal with. He's still holding on to players like LJH and Trautman, who are not very good.

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You may be right. One of Payton's flaws was him falling in love with project guys or undrafted guys. Sometimes, he did find diamonds in the rough like Pierre Thomas but other times, those guys were overlooked for a reason (LJH, Trautman, Arnold, TommyLee). I don't think Payton was entirely propped up by Brees (after all, Brees didn't become Drew Brees, first ballot hall of famer, until he started working with Payton) but Brees could mask a lot of flaws.