Saints Payton files for divorce

jjtweeks

Moderator
Seems like bad news just flows out of NO. Hope to hear some good stuff soon. The Paytons would have celebrated their 20th Anniversary next week, though they will still be married at the time, there will be no celebration.
 

Miller

Who Dey
Administrator
wow, get suspended for a year and now your 20 yr marriage falls apart. Not a good year for Sean.
 

RLLD

Member
Just a flood of bad news for New Orleans, hopefully this will all just be water under the bridge soon.
 

mudloggerone

Outlaw
Administrator
There are some, though not any local that I know of, that think a really good year for the Saints this season would bring about the demise of Payton in New Orleans. I've seen it in articles of national interest. What those guys fail to understand is that Sean is like a folk hero in the Big Easy and few, if any, have turned against him due to what many see as an unfair prosecution by the commissioner. However, if the Saints were to let Sean go, due to the "black eye" he brought upon the organization would that not count as a "hat trick" of sorts?
 

Phicinfan

Expert on nothing, opinionated on everything
Administrator
There are some, though not any local that I know of, that think a really good year for the Saints this season would bring about the demise of Payton in New Orleans. I've seen it in articles of national interest. What those guys fail to understand is that Sean is like a folk hero in the Big Easy and few, if any, have turned against him due to what many see as an unfair prosecution by the commissioner. However, if the Saints were to let Sean go, due to the "black eye" he brought upon the organization would that not count as a "hat trick" of sorts?
I have seen talk of this as well. He has a huge contract, and letting him go, and paying his replacement cheep would be an interesting option. I just don't see it though.

Keep in mind though, weren't there rumors last year or so about him wanting to retire? I wonder if this was a warning sign from his pending divorce, and how stable he will be long term.
 

Jackson

The Green Phoenix
Staff member
I have seen talk of this as well. He has a huge contract, and letting him go, and paying his replacement cheep would be an interesting option. I just don't see it though.

Keep in mind though, weren't there rumors last year or so about him wanting to retire? I wonder if this was a warning sign from his pending divorce, and how stable he will be long term.

I don't possibly see how this season is going to go well enough to make firing Sean seem like a good idea. I don't know if it'll be a disaster, but if we win 9 or 10 games without him (the most optimistic I'm willing to go), I can't see Benson canning Payton. Besides, who would they replace him with? It won't be Joe Vitt, that's for sure. Same problems as Payton, not as good of a head coach. If they believed in Krommer, Carmichael, or Spagnuolo, why wouldn't they have used any of those guys as head coach? Who outside the organization would want to walk into that mess? (Especially cheaply?)

Also, I don't think the Saints are paying Sean Payton this year. That might save money. They probably have fired him for cause in March or April, but I don't see them making that stick next year. Also, I think he's pretty popular with the players.

I don't remember retirement rumors, per se. I think maybe you're thinking about the paranoia Saints fans had about him buying that house in Texas last year, and worrying that he wanted to coach the Cowboys? I guess we know what that house was kind of about now.
 

Jackson

The Green Phoenix
Staff member
I have no idea exactly what happened/is happening with the Paytons' marriage, but it is always sad to see a family fall apart. Although Sean Payton was the one who filed for divorce, so I guess it had to be at least partially his idea. Like I said, I feel bad for his family, but it stopped me from saying "poor guy" like I thought about when I first read the headline.
 

Fun-N-Sun

"Laissez les bons temps rouler"
As far as firing Payton now or later, my thought is that crap can't get much worse in NO, so get rid of him now and just hire a new coach, anybody, and begin the healing all at one time instead of now and again later when he is fired.

On the impending divorce: Divorce would be a extremely clever and very strategic way to siphon off alot of money to the spouse that would be untouchable should there be personal legal actions against Payton in the future, by opposing players that were injured playing the Saints, during his bounty years. Could this be a divorce of convenience to protect million$ ?
 
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Jackson

The Green Phoenix
Staff member
As far as firing Payton now or later, my thought is that crap can't get much worse in NO, so get rid of him now and just hire a new coach, anybody, and begin the healing all at one time instead of now and again later when he is fired.

I don't know, man, that sounds like a pretty bad idea. It certainly can get a lot worse in New Orleans. Incompetent coaches litter the landscape of the NFL. I don't see Payton getting fired any time soon. If they would have done it over this, it would have happened already. If the Saints suck this year? Not his fault. It would have to be after 2013, if it was an epic disaster, which seems pretty far-fetched to me, right now.

On the impending divorce: Divorce would be a extremely clever and very strategic way to siphon off alot of money to the spouse that would be untouchable should there be personal legal actions against Payton in the future, by opposing players that were injured playing the Saints, during his bounty years. Could this be a divorce of convenience to protect million$ ?

I really think he just wasn't getting along with his wife. Being an NFL head coach is a tough profession. Even (apparently) good guys like Andy Reid and Tony Dungy have been beset by family problems. The idea it's some sort of legal strategy seems absurd. I mean, he's losing the money, anyway, right? Also, I don't think legal action would coming any time soon because there weren't actually a lot of players injured from 2009-2011. Playing football is a degenerative condition, anyway.
 
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