the return of PFT live. Until then as you know by now weekdays for
the most part. Pfft, I'm 44
this week. I've never been 44
in anything in my entire life before today
doesn't feel much different. Let's get to it. Sean Payton.
Barry Jackson, the Miami Herald
dropping a little
bit of a bombshell
yesterday. The idea that Peyton based upon a source close
to the former Saints. Head coach
would be interested in
three teams among others, but three teams were mentioned
in Jackson's item.
One the Cowboys,
duh to the Dolphins,
That one was a stunner three. The Chargers brand is Taylor
saying, what the hell did I do?
The Dolphins and the Chargers really did stand out. Because
first-year coach Mike McDaniel. We don't even know what he's
going to do. He could be great. It's now if he is the Peyton
thing goes away, but it puts extra pressure on him
to not have a horrible season, because look, we've seen
coaches, go one and done before every time it happens, we've
got some old stories that lists all the times. It's occurred
the past, 30 years, it happens a lot more than you realize
one year and out one year and out,
it isn't as rare.
As people think.
And if Steven Ross is hell-bent on getting Tom, Brady
and Bradys choices, Sean, Payton, and remember,
remember, unless you only watch ESPN or NFL Network, you're
aware of this.
Peyton and Brady were in the process of happening in Miami.
The Brian Flores lawsuit filed the same day. Tom Brady
announced his
retirement that kept it from occurring.
It's still could happen
next year. And if I'm McDaniel I look at it, two ways, one it
Pisses me off and motivates me because
why are people already speculating on my job security?
When I haven't even coach the game, on the other hand,
he's a grown up, he gets it, he's very self-aware. He knows
what industry he signed up for all. He's entitled to his,
the money he would be paid for the balance of his contract. If
they decide to fire them at any time, that's their business.
Any head coach is at the mercy of that reality, an owner who can
decide, if he or she so chooses to
Move on from a head coach whenever same mindset applies
to Brandon's daily of a Chargers. And, you know,
I'm excited for what Staley can do. As a head coach, he was
very controversial last year with his over commitment, to
going for it on fourth down. The bottom line is, they didn't
make it to the playoffs when
They probably should have with Justin Herbert if they don't
make it this year
and Peyton's available
to work with Herber,
and it's already being floated that Peyton would be interested
in the Chargers.
It's not crazy. Look Peyton setting himself up to be
the target of a land rush and what's going to happen is as we
get into the season
and inevitably, there will be good teams which means there
will be bad teams. And the bad teams owners will start
thinking,
what can we do to make ourselves better? Oh, how about
Sean, Payton. And
everyone will say all the right things about, well, there's no
tampering. There were no discussions, that's baloney
plenty of things happen.
Really plenty of things happen away from the public eye.
There's plenty of stuff that goes on. Where these deals are
lined up. Before
the official process is activated.
We know it if you read Playmakers and I know it
because I wrote Playmakers in 2019,
the wheels were in motion,
the pieces were aligned for Sean. Payton, to become
the head coach, the Cowboys, what happens?
Well, Anthony Davis, then with the New Orleans Pelicans
decides he wants out of town Mickey Loomis who was the VP of
basketball operations for the Pelicans. At the time he was
a GM of the Saints. He still working for the Saints but not
the Pelicans.
He didn't want to be the common link between Davis and Peyton.
Both leaving New Orleans so that ended it. It was
happening. It was basically a day away from
step one which would have been the Cowboys
firing coach Jason Garrett step to engaging in.
In a supposedly open and inclusive and diverse search step 3
contact the Saints.
Inquire about the potential availability of Payton
Saints. Ask for what the Cowboys knew they were going to
ask for Cowboys agree to give it, then they approached
Peyton. They hire Peyton. The rest is history. So moving it
forward. That's how it would go. That's how it almost
happened with the dolphins.
It doesn't get to the point where
we're ready to flick the first Domino if the dominoes aren't
already set up and they were
the Dolphins knew what it was going to take to get Peyton.
The Dolphins knew
what they were going to have to pay him.
The Dolphins had an idea. What it was going to take to get
Brady. They're getting ready to introduce him as a minority
owner of the team. It was all going to happen until Flores
filed his lawsuit. So
Dolphins
Cowboys Chargers or anyone else that fits the profile and there
were three factors reported by Barry Jackson. Won
a warm weather team to
a team that has a competitive roster. Assume quarterback is
going to be a Part of that. And three Peyton has to have final
say,
over Personnel. If that lines up.
Somebody's going to win
somebody's going to get Peyton and he's going to be back in 2023
barring, some sort of unexpected development, he was
almost back in 2022. And
in hindsight this just kind of looks like the most graceful
way possible for him to exit New Orleans at a time when it
felt like the window was closing,
he wants to go somewhere
where the window is open. And he along with every other coach
that has won a Super Bowl
with one, Chai's is keenly aware of the fact that no one
has ever won a Super Bowl
with a second franchise and
look,
it was emphasized by The Source close to Peyton, that he's
never going to lobby for an open job. Well,
you may not have to do it directly, if you just make it
known you're available,
And they come to you.
I mean if they're going to fire their coach anyway, what are
you doing wrong? If they come to you, there's only 32 of
these jobs and there's probably only five or six that would fit
Peyton's profile.
If they come to him,
I don't think he's going to say no,
because he didn't say no.
To the Cowboys.
And we don't know when these conversations started between
Peyton and the Dolphins and Brady and the Dolphins was it
before. Brian Flores was even fired by the Dolphins.
There's a lot of stuff that happens that we don't know about
the sausage gets made in a very
in elegant way
because
There's what we see
and there's what occurs to make it happen
and you don't just show up
and fire your coach and say well let's see what happens next.
Most of these owners have a plan in place ahead of time for
exactly who they're going to hire and that's what the league
is trying to get owners away from having that decision
already made is to who they're going to hire. So they truly do
have an open and inclusive and diverse search.
The problem is this
bird. In the hand,
I'm letting my coach go. How do I know I'm going to get
somebody better. I don't know
if you have a plan as to who you're going to get. Yeah.
I'm going to fire this guy and I'm going to get Sean, Payton.
I'm going to fire this guy and I'm going to get Mike Tom. I'm
going to fire this guy and I'm going to get John Harbaugh when
you know that
makes it easier to fire your coach and most owners
before they make a change like that, one of the most important
employees in the organization, you want to have a pretty good
idea who the next one is going to be. And if you have that
luxury,
you take advantage of it, that's one of the issues at the end.
FL has when it comes to encouraging teams
to have more diverse searches, but bottom line,
expect, Sean Payton to be back in 2023.
Expect the story to drive the news coverage throughout
the season, especially as the bad teams. Begin to separate
bad teams with good quarterbacks. Those are
the ones to watch teams that underachieve. Somebody asked me
a couple of weeks ago, what are the Cowboys need to do to slam
the door on the paint and talk? And Jerry Jones is trying to
slam the door on the paint and talking funny
Jerry Jones wants to talk about everything else.
But the Peyton talk because he wants to get behind Mike
McCarthy, and he's hopeful McCarthy can fulfill
the potential that they saw in him and they made him the head
coach. I think he's got to do with the Cowboys haven't done
since 95.
He's got to get to the NFC Championship, to fend off
the Sean, Payton talk and even then if they fall short of the Super
Bowl, even then
if Jerry Jones knows that, this is my last chance
to ever get Sean Payton and he's going to go somewhere else.
And especially if that's somewhere else is another and
FC team, these going to have to compete with.
That
that could be a factor. So interesting
story that will dominate 2022 and it already
is hovering over the season
as training camps. Haven't even opened yet.