Sean Payton announced this week that he has stepped down as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, but he did not rule out a return to the sideline at some point. That has led to a bunch of premature speculation about Payton joining the Dallas Cowboys, and Jerry Jones addressed that on Friday — sort of.
Jones was asked during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan about Payton leaving the Saints. He heaped praise on the longtime coach.
Payton was an assistant coach with the Cowboys for three seasons before he was hired by the New Orleans Saints in 2006. He has maintained a close relationship with Jones, and it has long been rumored that Jones would love for Payton to be the head coach in Dallas. Jones was asked if that narrative places pressure on Mike McCarthy. He downplayed the talk.
There had been some talk about McCarthy potentially losing his job, but Jones put a stop to that on Friday. McCarthy will be back with the Cowboys in 2022, but Jones is not going to be pleased with anything short of a deep playoff run. If Dallas falls short of expectations again and Payton gets the itch to return, there is little doubt Jones will want to chat with him.
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