Saints DE Cameron Jordan believes Sean Payton will coach again

It's been a couple of weeks since one-time Super Bowl champion coach Sean Payton shocked the NFL community by informing the New Orleans Saints he was stepping away from the club and the coaching ranks. It's widely assumed Payton will eventually join a television or radio outlet, perhaps even before the upcoming NFL draft, but the 58-year-old who spent 15 seasons with the Saints admitted in late January he believes he is not completely "finished" with coaching. 

Cameron Jordan knows Payton quite well, as the seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end has been with the Saints since the 2011 draft. Jordan appeared on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" on Wednesday and said he expects to see his old coach back on a sideline at some point down the road. 

"I thought it was retirement, and then he said I'm not done with coaching. … He's just done with us right now. … With Sean, you never know," Jordan explained, according to Chase Goodbread of the league's website. "You're talking about a guy who has always had the plan. He plays chess, not checkers. So in my mind, he's going to a bigger market."

Payton's contract with the Saints runs through 2024, but that wouldn't necessarily prevent a franchise such as the Dallas Cowboys from trading for his rights next winter. 

"We'll see what happens. But seriously, with what Sean has given to the Saints, what Sean has given to New Orleans, if he says he needs some time off, take some time off," Jordan continued. "If he comes back to coaching, great. But everything he's done for me, my fam, the friends that I've created over the last 11 years on the Saints, the whole entire organization, bringing a Super Bowl to the city, do what you want, big guy."

It feels that it's a matter of when, not if, Payton accepts his next coaching gig. His future beyond the 2022 campaign may depend on which teams are looking for upgrades at the position either in 2023 or 2024.