Coaching Buzz: Sean Payton Could ‘Open It Up’

The New Orleans Saints and Sean Payton are not close to agreeing to a new deal, according to Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com.

“People thought this is between the Saints and Dallas,” Glazer said on Fox’s pregame show, per NFL.com. “If this thing doesn’t get done … (Payton) is going to open it up everywhere. He’s really not going to limit his options.”

And this from SI.com’s Peter King:

I think, as I’ve thought since news of the canceled Sean Payton contract in New Orleans broke, that the longer the stalemate lasted, the bigger the chance Payton would leave. And maybe Jay Glazer’s strong report Sunday — that Payton isn’t close to a deal and will not limit his options to New Orleans and Dallas if a deal isn’t reached soon — is posturing, but keep in mind that Glazer is closer than anyone in the media to Payton. He knows.

Of course, part of this is leverage. Even if Payton is set on staying in New Orleans, he wants to get the best deal possible. But if he feels like he can maximize his value elsewhere, who knows how this thing could play out?

Meanwhile, Tim wrote about Nick Saban over the weekend. The National Football Post had this to add:

Nick Saban probably isn’t going to make the jump to the NFL. He’s comfortable being a college head coach and he has a good situation at Alabama. But the NFL is going to come knocking. And, from what we are hearing, Saban will listen. Like he always does. They say there you can buy anything for the right price, and people in the league believe you can definitely buy Saban if you want to pay a ridiculous price.

Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com seems to be hearing the same things:

I can’t find anyone in the NFL who knows Alabama’s Nick Saban well and believes he’ll return to the pros next season. No one. Which means he will.

And finally, ESPN’s Ron Jaworski doesn’t think Chip Kelly’s offensive system translates to the NFL, although he can appreciate elements of it.

On the whole, I have doubts about whether Kelly’s offense can translate 100 percent to the NFL with a high degree of success. The injury risk to QBs is too great. The pregame prep by opponents is too good. The talent gap between teams is too small. But hyperspeed? Now, that sounds like the future to me.

As I wrote last week, if you target Kelly, you’re doing so because you believe he’s a smart football mind who can adapt to the NFL. You don’t hire him simply to bring his scheme to the professional level.

Remember, you can find all our coaching buzz posts in one special section.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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