Payton on being one of the least injured teams in the NFL
His first public criticism of the Saints was the organizations lack of having his back against the refs. Saying the ownership in Denver would be better in that situation.
His second public criticism was during his first offseason with Denver when he mentioned how superior the talent evaluation process was in Denver compared to Nola. Mickey immediately responded by shaking up that part of the organization.
Now after his second season he’s criticizing the constant injury issues without directly saying the Saints. It was the first thing that he mentioned after beating the Saints in the dome this season saying that the “Saints were banged up”.
It’s crystal clear why he left NOLA and you can’t argue with the results. He was in the playoffs with a first round QB, and the Saints, well we all know where the Saints are at right now.
I always thought he left New Orleans because he was "burnt out" but that was utter bullshirt, too. He didnt have his future HOF QB in Drew Brees' anymore and if he'd managed the draft proceedings better in 2017 and drafted Mahomes like he's said he was dead set on, he still be sitting in his office on Airline Dr. in Metarie. If Mahomes has 25-30% of the same overall career success in New Orleans that's he had in Kansas City, Payton is still proudly here, private resentments and all. His apologists and defenders can scream and go through all sorts of mental gymnastics or cherry-picked arguments with convenient twists applied here and there to explain otherwise.
I think most of Payton's insistences or drawn-out explanations surrounding why he didnt draft Mahomes, post-facto is carefully-crafted wish fulfillment. Payton probably wanted him at the time but he just couldn't bring himself to press the button because while Mahomes had an excellent collegiate career in a pass-heavy offense at Texas Tech, their was no guarantee that he would become 15% of the player he turned into. Not enough to convince him he was a worthy successor to Brees. Sure, he had a great supporting cast his first 4-5 seasons in Kansas City but even if he's not throwing for 5,000 yards and 40 TD's anymore, he's still making huge plays when needed to even if the Chiefs defense have become more pre-dominant. Mahomes' propensity for making great plays happen continually isn't a systemic thing, it's God-given talent which is why I suspect he probably wouldve succeeded where ever he went. That sort of immense talent or near-superhuman ability can't be taught.
The part about the refs is a bit disingenuous because lets face it most officiating crews aren't as likely to pick on, target and ignore and call bad penalties on Denver then lets say some small-market team and ownership the league FO and its commissioner doesn't like and had a bit of a grudge towards while Payton was here. The refs have had it in for us since we called out their bullshirt in 2018 and tried to make their sorry arses accountable and they've held a personal grudge ever since. You can even see it in some of their faces sometimes when they make a bad call occasionally against us, how they get a thrill knowing this call will piss off most Saints fans in the stands with their little smirks, half-arse "fork you" smiles (I notice quite a bit of that, too). When there's a perception that the league FO and most of its rank-and-file don't like you and are potentially more likely to screw you on penalties, there's not much good any complaining or calling BS will get Saints FO, regardless of who the HC is. Payton should know better. In fact, he's openly said the referees won't screw around with him in Denver because it's Wal-Mart money behind it.
They can't pick on them as easily as they did a small-market team one of their former Commissioners (Pete Rozelle) was forced to agree to found an expansion team on Hale Boggs insistence if Rozelle wanted his AFL/NFL anti-trust exemption passed. Rozelle might've eventually put a team in New Orleans, I agree with him on that part, but not the timing. Pete Rozelle was a man who loved to do things his way and most league-wide decisions were done following his time table. He decided when and at what point an expansion team goes into a certain city but when it came to AFL/NFL merger hearings, the power and his destiny was completely out of his hands and he had to make a deal he wasnt expecting and likely wouldnt made 50% of the time, but again, larger priorities took precedent and for one of the few times as Commissioner, Rozelle lost and I don't think he ever forgave Boggs, Mckeithen, and Sen. Russell Long and IMHO, some of that pettiness and resentment may have played out over the long haul in how he treated the city of New Orleans and the Saints at certain moments.