After a brief retirement, Sean Payton is back coaching in the NFL as the new head coach of the Denver Broncos. But this week, he revealed that there were some other conversations going on behind the scenes as some prominent decision-makers were trying to lure him to the Washington Commanders.
During an interview with Adam Schien of SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio, Sean Payton revealed that potential future Washington Commanders ownership groups were interested in him becoming the next coach of the Washington Commanders. Current Commanders owner Dan Snyder is expected to sell the franchise in the near future and potential future owners wanted to get “ahead of the game” by locking up Payton as the team’s next coach.
“Everyone’s waiting to see what happens in Washington,” Payton told Schein. “And there was some interest from some potential ownership groups that are gonna be bidding on, currently had bid on that team, that were getting ahead of the game saying, ‘Hey, if we get awarded this team, would you?’ And so there were a lot of different things at play. . . .
“That’s a place that’s had great tradition. Like, when I came into the league, Adam, my first two years were Philly. My next four years were New York Giants. And then my next three were the Cowboys. My whole entire NFL career prior to New Orleans was NFC East. And what happened to that program?”
Obviously, those talks never materialized. But it sounds like Payton at least considered it.
“Listen, that place, my uncle loved the Washington franchise,” Payton said. “Last year, we go there to play and pregame I’m looking up in the crowd. A third of the fans are Saints fans. And I’m like, what happened to this place? That was one of the six pillars. . . . That was a special place. So it’ll come back.”
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