Payton and Brees, стр. 71
Mahomes, meanwhile, assumed the starting spot in Kansas City in 2018 and quickly developed into one of the elite players in the league. He won the Most Valuable Player Award in 2018 after passing for 5,097 yards and a league-high 50 touchdowns. A year later, he led the Chiefs to their second Super Bowl championship in franchise history. Along the way, he has drawn comparisons to Hall of Famers Brett Favre and Steve Young.
If the Bills had stayed put and selected another player other than Lattimore and Mahomes, Payton said the Saints would have picked Lattimore.
“I don’t know if we would have changed because Lattimore’s grade was so good,” he said. “The challenge is, Lattimore helps your team immediately with Brees. The other player [Mahomes] is a potential franchise quarterback that helps your team long-term. We deal with that [question] a lot.”
If the Bills had stayed put and selected Lattimore instead of trading with the Chiefs, Payton said the plan was definitely to take Mahomes, barring some over-the-top offer from a rival team. And taking Mahomes likely would have changed everything for the Saints.
A slew of questions would have presented themselves over the ensuing years.
Would the Saints have seen the same eye-popping potential in Mahomes that the Chiefs did during practices in 2017?
If so, would they have signed Brees to the two-year, $50 million contract they gave him in 2018?
Or would they have wanted to start earning a return on their investment in Mahomes?
And given his past, would Brees have even wanted to play in New Orleans in that situation?
Would the Saints have gone 11–5 and won the NFC South without Lattimore locking down opposing receivers last season?
If not, would Brees have been more willing to consider other options?
Would Brees have moved on and—gasp—broken the NFL career passing yardage and touchdown records somewhere other than New Orleans?
Thanks to the Chiefs’ daring draft-day deal, Payton and the Saints never had to answer those questions. But it’s fascinating to think about the players who finished first and second in voting for the 2018 NFL MVP Award sharing the same quarterback room. And it’s scary to think what Mahomes could have done in the Saints’ high-flying offense with Payton calling the plays.
“He was a fantastic prospect,” Payton said of Mahomes. “We saw a lot of traits that we saw with Brett [Favre]. He was such a likable player. You watched him on film, and you saw a high ceiling.
“But it all worked out. I think Kansas City and Andy [Reid] and those guys got a heck of a player. It all worked out real good.”
When a reporter asked Brees in 2018 if he would have been okay with the selection of Mahomes, he was completely unruffled by the prospect. “Yeah,” he said, while shrugging his shoulders, “as long as he’s okay to sit for a few years.”
24. In NOLA to Stay
There was a time not long ago when folks around the New Orleans Saints training facility thought Bill Parcells haunted the building.
Bill this.
Bill that.
This is how Bill does it in Dallas.
Sean Payton seemingly couldn’t make a decision without referencing his mentor. The initial approach was understandable. Payton arrived in New Orleans fresh off, as he would call it, a three-year graduate term in the Big Tuna School of Coaching. Learning at the side of one of the most accomplished and respected coaches in NFL history left an indelible impression on Payton, both as a man and coach. When he left Dallas for New Orleans, he was a walking encyclopedia of Parcells-isms.
Over time, though, Payton has gradually emerged from Parcells’ shadow. Entering his 15th season in New Orleans, Payton has grown comfortable and confident in his own coaching skin. He has learned that not everything Parcells said or did is the gospel, similar to how a son one day learns that his father doesn’t hold the monopoly on worldly wisdom. Payton still talks to Parcells frequently and considers him his mentor. He always will. But he’s no longer Parcells’ acolyte. He’s become his own coach. In fact, his .630 winning percentage (131–77) is well ahead of Parcells’ career mark of .569 (172–130–1).
“We’re different in some ways, and that’s okay,” Payton said of Parcells. “I’m very clear, I’m very happy and focused and excited about what’s to come, with no script.”
Loomis has played a key role in Payton’s evolution. Under his patient guidance, he has allowed Payton to stretch his wings, to maintain his coaching persona while learning from mistakes along the way.
Payton has matured and evolved. He is inarguably a better coach now than he was five years ago. He’s certainly more malleable and open-minded, two qualities for which Parcells was never known. While Parcells’ irascible style might be perfectly suited for franchise overhaul, it doesn’t have a long shelf life. Consequently, he tended to bounce from job to job. And his final two tenures in Dallas and Miami weren’t exactly success stories.
Payton arrived in New Orleans with the same scorched-earth attitude. In the beginning, it was necessary. The challenge of overhauling the football operation and transforming the culture of the Saints organization required a no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners approach. Payton’s obsessive drive spurred the Saints to a Super Bowl title in 2009 and an unprecedented run of success. But along the way, he developed a reputation as a rebel, someone who could be difficult to deal with professionally.
Ornstein recalled a meeting with an NFL Network executive at the 2018 Pro Bowl that opened Payton’s eyes when he and the Saints staff coached the NFC team in Orlando, Florida.
“She told Sean, ‘I’m going to go back and tell everybody what a good guy you really are,’” Ornstein said. “Sean said, ‘What do you mean?’ And she said, ‘Well, everybody at NFL Films thinks you’re an asshole.’ And he said, ‘What are you talking about? Really?’ And after she left, I told him, ‘Sean, I told you this. You have treated people so poorly over the years. You were an asshole. You need to change.’”
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