Three teams have been given permission by the Saints to interview Sean Payton to be their next head coach, and those three teams know that kind of compensation the Saints will demand to hire Payton.
That’s the word from Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis, who said today that those three teams are the only ones that have sought permission to speak to Payton, and all three were given that permission only after the Saints made clear that they’re not giving Payton away.
“We haven’t settled on exactly what the compensation is going to be yet, but they’re well aware that there is going to be compensation,” Loomis said.
Loomis said he hasn’t offered a specific price for Payton because different teams have different combinations of draft picks that they’d be able to send the Saints.
“It’s going to be different for every team because they have different picks and different things available to them,” Loomis said. “They have to get our permission to have a discussion with him, and then we have to have the compensation settled before they can actually hire him.”
The Saints are in rough salary cap shape this year and don’t have a first-round pick. It’s going to be tough for them to rebuild their roster, but draft picks for Payton would be helpful, and it would benefit the Saints if one of those other teams hires him.