Soon after Sean Payton announced that he was stepping away from the New Orleans Saints franchise, fans and analyst from around the league began connecting the dots to a possible return to the Dallas Cowboys.
Payton, who served as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 2003-05, remains close with longtime Dallas owner Jerry Jones.
During an appearance with The Musers on 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket on Wednesday, former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman weighed in on the possibility of Payton returning to the organization.
“Well, I wouldn’t dismiss [the rumors],” he said, per The Dallas Morning News. “I’m confident in saying that Sean and Jerry have a good relationship. They spent time together when Sean was here. I know that even when he went to New Orleans Sean has remained relatively close to the family. What that might mean? I don’t know. I do think that Jerry, as everyone would, I do, I think most everyone in football has a respect for Sean Payton and what he has done and what he’s capable of doing as a head coach. There’s a lot of teams that would love to have him, for sure. I don’t know what that looks like, however, with New Orleans as far as — if he did want to go somewhere else, I would have to believe, because he still has years on his contract, that there would be compensation involved. Whether it’s the Cowboys or anyone else, that would need to be determined and is the price too high, I guess.”
Though some Cowboys fans may be itching for a replacement for Mike McCarthy after a disappointing Wild Card loss this year, Payton may not be an option — at least for right now.
During his farewell press conference earlier this week, the former New Orleans head coach emphasized that he doesn’t plan on coaching in 2022.
Troy Aikman also shared his reaction to what may come next in Payton’s career.
“Maybe Sean will go easy street and become a television analyst,” he said. “Yeah, that’s a pretty good job. So maybe he’ll do that, I don’t know…
“I hope he stays in coaching because I think he’s one of the best and he’s great for our game. And I know that they’ll sure miss him in New Orleans. He’s done an awful lot. We know what New Orleans was like before he got there, so I have great respect for him. I hope he just does whatever’s going to make him happy.”
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