New Orleans Saints to Pay Sean Payton $8 Million Per Season; Deal Still Awaiting League Approval
By Josh Hill
Sean Payton’s year just got a lot better. After enduring bounty-gate, getting suspended for an entire season and being subjected to league scrutiny over the fine print of his contract negotiations, Payton now has 8 million reasons every season to look back at this ordeal and smile.
There was some uncertainty as to whether or not the New Orleans Saints would be able to bring back head coach Sean Payton, but the two sides stuck a deal on Friday that ensured he’d be on the bayou for the foreseeable future. In the deal that keeps Payton in New Orleans, the Saints will be paying the head coach $8 million per season, making Payton the highest paid coach in any sport in America.
While the exact annual salary of each head coach isn’t supposed to be public knowledge (for whatever reason), it’s believed that New England Patriots head coaching guru Bill Belichick is making a little under $8 million.
The deal isn’t official yet, as Payton and the Saints have only agreed to the deal in principal. The NFL and Roger Goodell still need to approve the deal before anything can be signed and made completely official. Earlier this season, the league vetoed a contract between Payton and the Saints which sent the NFL into a frenzy over whether this meant Payton would ever return to the sidelines in New Orleans.
The issue with that deal though, revolved around language in the contract that the league didn’t like. Basically the fine print rubbed the NFL the wrong way, and they sent the contract back with notes on how to fix it. The language as reportedly been cleaned up to the NFL’s liking and no league interference is expected with the contract.
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