I mean we do know how they did things when Payton was here and he was in more or less total control over every aspect of the team. Every reporter from Underhill to Duncan has and will tell you that. Payton paid so much attention to detail that he had his hands in every aspect of the team. It's the way Parcells worked and so it was the way Payton worked.
When we talk about the 2017 draft, do we say that Loomis was going to take Mahomes if he was there or that Payton was going to take Mahomes if he was there? The answer is that it was Payton that was going to take Mahome despite having future HoF Drew Brees. If that doesn't tell you who was in total control of the Saints, I don't know what does.
And yes, Payton probably would have had them in the playoffs last year and likely this year because he's a great coach that gets results that are better than his talent. But that doesn't mean he didn't use our cap for all it was worth and then leave town leaving us with no cap space, no QB, no WRs, and an old roster. And the fact that we are in that situation is all the more reason to try to find a new coach that can get more out of our team than the talent we have because DA isn't that guy.
But despite all that, I'd take Sean Payton back as head coach of the Saints in a split second.