(SportsRadio 610) - Of the Texans’ eight candidates who’ve been identified as possible replacements for Lovie Smith, Sean Payton is the most intriguing.
The Texans, Cardinals and Broncos have received permission from New Orleans to interview Payton, the former Saints’ coach who’s working this season as a studio analyst for Fox and can begin the interview process next week. Reports say Denver has scheduled the first interview with Payton for Tuesday.
Considering the Chargers blew their wild-card game at Jacksonville on Saturday night, there’s already lots of speculation that Brandon Staley should be fired and replaced by Payton. The Chargers led the Jaguars 27-0 in the first half and lost 31-30.
No matter who ends up hiring Payton, it’s going to prove costly for the team that gets him. And there’s no guarantee he’s going to return this year even though he’s being pursued by multiple teams.
Payton, who compiled a 161-97 record in 15 seasons with the Saints, including 9-8 in the playoffs and a victory in Super Bowl XLIV, will require compensation be paid to the Saints. General manager Mickey Loomis is going to demand more than one first-round draft choice.
The Texans are loaded with draft choices. General manager Nick Caserio has a treasure chest in this year’s draft with 11 picks, including two in the first round – second and 12th overall. He also has 10 picks in 2024, including two in the first round.
If Caserio and the McNair family – Janice, Hannah and Cal McNair – really want to hire Payton after one-and-done fiascos with Smith and David Culley, they’ll have to pay a steep price. Players can’t be included in deals for head coaches, so the Texans probably would have to surrender picks in the next two drafts.
In the current NFL climate, the Saints aren’t going to get a deal like the Raiders made with Tampa Bay for Jon Gruden. Al Davis received two first-round draft choices, two second-round picks and $8 million. Gruden led the Bucs to their first Super Bowl victory.
Realistically, the Saints also know they won’t be able to get the third overall pick from the Texans, but it never hurts to ask. They’re more likely to demand the 12th selection acquired from Cleveland in the Deshaun Watson trade. Caserio, who has five draft choices in the first three rounds, might counter with something outside the first round this year and offer the Texans’ first-round pick in 2024.
There are other impediments standing in the way of getting Payton. Word is he’s hoping to get a contract for $20 million a year, and with three teams interested in hiring him – a number that could increase – he might skyrocket into the Bill Belichick stratosphere of the highest-paid coaches. Money wouldn’t keep Payton from coming to the Texans because it hasn’t been an issue with the McNair family.
Another possible deal-breaker could be control. Payton had control of everything at New Orleans, including personnel. Caserio has four years left on a contract that gives him final say on all personnel acquisitions. Cal McNair would have to fire Caserio and pay him $20 million. It’s doubtful Caserio would give up what he wanted when he left New England – a six-year contract with the power over personnel, which Belichick has with the Patriots.
The oddsmakers have established Arizona as the most likely destination for Payton. Owner Michael Bidwill fired coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim. That clears the deck for Payton to have both titles, or he could bring in a general manager like Loomis, who worked so well with him in New Orleans. Saints’ assistant general manager Jeff Ireland and Khai Harley, vice president of football administration, could be candidates.
The Arizona Republic reported recently that Payton told “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” in November that he worked as a ball boy for the Cardinals when they played in St. Louis and had training camp at Eastern Illinois, where he played college football. Payton is one year older than Bidwill. They’ve known each other since the early Eighties.
“I think I know that family well enough,” Payton said in his November interview with The Herd. “I was a ball boy for this team. We cleaned the rooms, (brought) towels to the rooms. We’d have a summer job. Finally, my junior, senior year, I handed out rosters and got to eat with the team, work for the team.”
That’s one of several factors that could give Arizona the inside track to getting Payton, who’s spoken highly of quarterback Kyler Murray. Payton also would be taking over a team with the third overall pick in the draft sandwiched between the Texans and Colts.
Unlike the Cardinals, the Texans, Broncos and Chargers have general managers in place with a lot of power. If Staley is fired, the thinking is Payton could take over a playoff team and coach Justin Herbert, one of the NFL’s most talented young quarterbacks.
If Payton ends up with the Cardinals, Broncos, Chargers or another team – or spends another season working for Fox – the Texans have an impressive list of other candidates: 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and Rams assistant head coach/tight ends coach Thomas Brown.
The Texans have completed interviews with Johnson, Steichen and Gannon. More are scheduled between the wild card and divisional playoff games. The process could take another two or three weeks. Then Caserio will recommend one of the coaches to Cal McNair, and he’s expected to hire the sixth head coach in franchise history.
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John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on Sports Radio 610 and Thursday on Texans Radio. He write three times a week and does three Houtopia Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com. He also can be read four times a week on GallerySports.com.