Sean Payton is out as New Orleans Saints head coach in what is a rough stretch for the organization.
First it was Drew Brees retiring following the 2020 season.
Now the head coach is gone even though he had three years left on his contract.
Payton is speaking with the media Tuesday on a variety of topics in his farewell.
Yet one tidbit of information stood out in a shocking way.
Payton revealed he spoke with Brees during the season about a potential return to the team.
That made sense once Jameis Winston was knocked out for the year with a torn ACL on Halloween.
The Saints were 5-2 at that point and could have used an upgrade over Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill.
Brees obviously never took the bait and the Saints lost five in a row, only to rebound and just miss the playoffs at 9-8.
The Best Decision For Both Sides
Brees is enjoying a nice, comfortable job as an analyst with NBC.
He took a beating throughout his career and had a catastrophic injury during the 2020 season that saw him fracture ribs and suffer a collapsed lung.
Retirement was the best option for him.
Coming back would have been rushed and could have jeopardized his great gig with NBC.
And as Payton said, Brees would have taken another beating in Week 16 against the Miami Dolphins.
That was the game when COVID absences ran rampant and Ian Book was forced to start on short notice.
He was sacked eight times and stood no chance of success at any point throughout the game.
Brees and Payton both made the right call here and next up is waiting to see if the coach will join the quarterback in the world of broadcasting.
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