The one name that has been a constant in the last few weeks when talking about Chip Kelly’s replacement is New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton..and why wouldn’t he be?! Super Bowl pedigree, moulding one of the best passers in a generation and someone who even coached with the birds back in the late 90’s. But then there’s the bigger picture..here’s why Payton is probably not going to be coaching at the Linc anytime soon.
To start with, it’s been made known that the Saints have set the bar low in terms of the compensation they would want in exchange for Payton. The reason behind this is to raise the eyebrows of a multitude of team owners and create a huge competitive market where a second round pick that would be the minimum becomes future first rounders etc.
The problem here is that the Eagles don’t have their second round pick because it was sent in the trade for Sam Bradford. So unless the Eagles would be prepared to delve into the pool of this years picks which are fundamentally important, the birds would have to split with future picks and potentially more which is the exact opposite of what the team needs right now.
There’s also a lot of competition to begin with. Four teams appear to be interested in Payton and all four have better draft scenario’s than the Eagles. So unless the Eagles really wanted Payton, the likelihood of risking so much in what could be a pivotal off-season is unlikely.
Then there’s the control scenario. In New Orleans, Payton has it pretty easy. He runs the personnel side of things and has a lot of say in what goes on in the bigger picture. The Eagles have recently diverted to a more “committee” based idea where they don’t actually have a GM. It would take a LOT for Lurie to backtrack, retract the new roles handed out to Tom Donahoe, Howie Roseman and company and if it ultimately comes down to how much power you’re given..it’s like asking a newly single girl out on a date to the restaurant her ex finished with her..
Payton is an incredible coach and whilst he seems to have failed in transitioning from the old guard to the new, he ticks all of the boxes that Lurie laid out in his press conference. The problem is that the Eagles would need to give up a LOT to bring him in both in terms of draft picks/players and power and it’s something that would make the firing of Chip Kelly in the first place redundant.
