The Dallas Cowboys may prefer the status quo on their coaching staff, but Sean Payton stepping away from the Saints changes the game.
The Dallas Cowboys may simply prefer to remain status quo with their coaching staff in 2022, if at all possible. But what happens if teams start poaching their assistants?
After getting bounced in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, Jerry Jones was obviously not happy and has needed some time to collect himself. Even if he decided once the initial anger of losing in the first round of the playoffs wore off to stick with his coaching staff, the latest news out of New Orleans might be the one thing that would cause him to change course.
Would Jerry Jones try to get Sean Payton to come to the Dallas Cowboys?
The latest news out of New Orleans is that head coach Sean Payton, who coached the team to its first Super Bowl victory, is stepping away from the job he has held since 2006.
What could be next for Payton? Maybe he wants to take the year off and look at what jobs might be available in 2023. Maybe he still wants to coach in 2022 and just not with the New Orleans Saints…
From NFL Now: #Saints coach Sean Payton is stepping aside, and New Orleans needs a new coach. pic.twitter.com/LBoTfDA34B
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 25, 2022
Lots of chatter inside the league among #NFL executives that Sean Payton stepped away from the #Saints with more than one eye on the #Cowboys. And the interest is mutual, per sources.
— Matt Lombardo 🏈 (@MattLombardoNFL) January 25, 2022
Is there more going on here than meets the eye?
If there is a mutual interest between the Dallas Cowboys and Sean Payton, the Cowboys would not just be able to throw a contract at him. They would have to trade for him with the Saints, which would not be out of the question.
The Cowboys jumped at the chance to hire Mike McCarthy when they did, but they may not be overly pleased with that at this point, at least not enough that they would consider passing on Sean Payton if they had the chance to bring him in the building.
What kind of asking price would the Saints have for Sean Payton? That remains to be seen. A lot will happen between now and the month of February but with top assistants in Dallas getting interviews elsewhere, would you really blame them for jumping at the chance to get a coach like Sean Payton?
Things could get interesting really quickly in Jerry’s World. Keep your eyes peeled because you never know when he’s going to make a move. The Dallas Cowboys simply have not lived up to the hype in recent years and you could argue coaching is a primary reason, whether it was Mike McCarthy, Jason Garrett, or someone else.
Perhaps Sean Payton could come back to the team he was once an assistant with and get them over the hump.