Sean Payton would go on to be quite associated with the Los Angeles Rams, but not to the extent that he could have been.
NFL Insider Peter King recently revealed that before the Rams hired Sean McVay to be their head coach in January of 2017, they considered an alternate strategy -- trying to pry Payton loose from the Saints:
"...Five years ago when the Rams were getting to the end of the line in the recruiting and the interviewing process for their head coach -- Kevin Demoff, their vice president, told me this before the Super Bowl -- that they were set to tell Stan Kroenke 'Look, here's who we like. We like this 30-year-old coach, the offensive coordinator from Washington named Sean McVay. But obviously it's going to take a leap of faith for you to love him.'
"And Demoff was really concerned that Stan Kroenke was a veteran coach guy. Over the years he had stuck with Jeff Fisher, and he was a big fan basically of getting veterans. George Karl [was the head coach] with the Denver Nuggets, his basketball team.
"So Demoff and their team presented him [and said] 'Look, it's possible -- we don't know that we could -- but it's possible that we could get Sean Payton. It's going to cost something, and it will take more money in the contract. But if you want us to try, we could.' My whole point about this is that three times in five years, some team out there at least seriously entertained the thought of going after Sean Payton and paying compensation to the Saints."
Ultimately, Demoff, Les Snead and the Rams' front office were able to convince Kroenke to take a chance on McVay, who became the youngest head coach in NFL history upon his hiring. That gamble has paid off in a major way, as the Rams have won two NFC titles and a Super Bowl in five seasons under McVay.
The first of those two NFC titles came at the expense of Payton and the Saints, with a blatant pass interference call missed in the fourth quarter helping the Rams to reach Super Bowl LIII, where they would be defeated by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
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In Week 2 of the 2019 season, the two teams squared off in America's Game of the Week on FOX, with the Rams clobbering the Saints 27-9. In the game, Drew Brees tore a ligament in his thumb when it hit Aaron Donald's helmet as he attempted to throw. The injury knocked him out of the game, and forced him to miss the next five weeks.
For as great of a coach as Payton is and as much as the Rams aren't shy about giving away draft picks in major trades, they made the right decision to hire McVay in 2017.
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