Cardinals owner explains why they didn't trade with Saints for Sean Payton

Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill has revealed why he didn't trade with the New Orleans Saints to acquire the rights to head coach Sean Payton. 

"The issues around coach Payton had nothing to do with the money, the compensation we would be paying him," Bidwill explained during an appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. "We just weren’t willing to go with what the Saints wanted us to give up. It would have been too costly to the team for us to rebuild that roster. It was really a series of tradeoffs. I still felt like we got great coaches out there that can get this team turned around." 

Payton stepped down as head coach of the Saints in January 2022, but his contract with the club ran through the 2024 season. According to Jeff Legwold of ESPN, the Denver Broncos ultimately sent New Orleans a 2023 first-round draft pick and a 2024 second-round selection for Payton and the Saints' 2024 third-round choice. 

It's unclear how close Arizona was to landing Payton. One report from January indicated Payton is a "fan" of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and could have potentially brought his own general manager with him to Arizona. Terry Bradshaw, Payton's former colleague with FOX, then generated headlines ahead of the Super Bowl when he said at an event that Payton "didn't wanna work with" Murray. Payton somewhat refuted that claim. 

In the end, the Cardinals hired former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Gannon has spoken highly of Murray on multiple occasions since his hiring, and Bidwill said this week that the 25-year-old signal-caller is "ahead of schedule" coming off of the knee surgery he underwent in early January. 

Fair or not, Arizona fans will forever wonder what could have been if Gannon flops with the Cardinals and Payton thrives in Denver.