The latest extension former Super Bowl winning coach Sean Payton signed with the Saints is one of the largest among coaches of North American professional sports, league sources said.
Payton's annual compensation reaches the range of $13 million per year in the deal, I'm told, shattering what had been a $10 million ceiling of sorts for the bulk of NFL coaches.
Payton, long-coveted by other owners in the event he were to leave New Orleans and the subject of potential trades in the past, is now bound to the Saints through the 2024 season. He and general manager Mickey Loomis have significant power, with owner Gayle Benson putting the franchise essentially in their hands on a daily basis, and are trying to win another Super Bowl before franchise quarterback Drew Brees retires.
This extension, signed just before the start of the season, entrusts Payton with stewarding the franchise beyond Brees and makes him among the very few highest paid non-players in the league. While no one has yet to come close to the 10-year, $100 million deal Jon Gruden signed with the Raiders a few years back, the annual compensation for the best coaches in the NFL continues to rise above $10 million, which some believe has something to do with so many owners going for younger (and far cheaper) alternatives in recent coaching cycles.
