Sean Payton called Drew Brees about returning to Saints in late December

Following a difficult season during which the New Orleans Saints posted an overall record of 9-8 but fell just shy of a playoff berth, head coach Sean Payton officially informed the club this week he was stepping down from his role and from coaching, in general. 

Payton lost starting quarterback Jameis Winston, the replacement for retired signal-caller and future Hall of Famer Drew Brees, to a season-ending injury on Halloween and then could do nothing as Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list for the Week 16 game against the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 27. 

During his farewell press conference on Tuesday, Payton admitted he phoned Brees about potentially playing against Miami. 

"I spoke to [Brees] at length last night about this decision for the first time and he was fantastic," Payton explained, according to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "And I did call him during the season and we discussed him coming back. And I think both of us agreed, based on our lineup versus Miami it was a good thing he stayed [with NBC] and didn’t come." 

Unproven rookie Ian Book started under center for New Orleans versus Miami and endured a nightmare outing, as he completed 12-of-20 passes for 135 yards with no touchdowns, two interceptions, and an astonishing eight sacks in the 20-3 loss. 

Brees probably had no regrets about staying retired upon watching that performance.