Was the Saints' Front Office (e.g., Loomis) Fleeced on the Sean Payton Trade?

El Caliente said

I believe that had we held Sean out of play until this offseason we would have been able to net 2 1sts. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Looking at these teams canning their coaches mid season leads me to believe that desperation for a winning coach would have been stronger among owners. They would have given the sun and the moon for Sean. Instead we traded him away, for a modest haul (but not the king’s ransom that we expected).

Click to expand...

Time was on Payton's side. People thinking the Saints had all this leverage aren't thinking this through. If push comes to shove and the Saints sticks to their guns, Payton simply waits another year by which time his contract would have been up and no way to get compensated. The leverage the longer you hold Payton goes down, not up because teams would just decide they can wait one more season and they can bid on his services without dealing with the Saints.

There's some debate whether Patyon's contract tolled after he stepped down. I think the clock would have run. That said, the Saints would have either let it go or taken him to court over it. Who knows what would have happened?

We weren't getting a king's ransom unless he went to Carolina. Maybe Loomis didn't want Payton going to Carolina bad enough that whatever they offered wasn't going to be enough. Idk tho.