“My plan is definitely to be back here. Shoot I’ve got four more years on my contract here. And I plan on honoring that,” Payton said on his weekly WWL Radio show. He again shot down a report from The Times-Picayune that said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis “would be open” to trading Payton to the Rams.
MORE: Ranking the NFL head coach openings
“I’ve already read Larry’s (Holder) report for instance about Mickey (Loomis) and I meeting, which was completely false,” Payton told reporters earlier Monday. “Mickey and I for the last 11 years, share the same locker room after every game.
“We come in, we have a Gatorade and the first thing I ask Mickey every game (for example) is was the (Coby) Fleener catch … did he hold on to it? Was the overturn (of the call correct)? Then we get a cheeseburger and then we get on the plane. But if I’m going to answer questions to a report like that which is inaccurate like that, then we’ll only just be churning the rumor mill.”
While he is still owed $40 million by the Saints after signing a multi-year extension last offseason, Payton must be wondering if there is any merit to these annual rumors.
Payton, who last led the Saints to the playoffs in 2013 and won a Super Bowl in 2009, is 94-65 in 10 seasons as New Orleans’ coach. But the Super Bowl XLIV championship seems distant after three consecutive 7-9 seasons. So why would the Rams want more 7-9 bulls—?
