Amid Cowboys Rumors, Coach Sean Payton Says 2 NFL Teams Are Calling

It's well-known that owner Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys and Payton, a former Dallas assistant, have a connection. But ...

FRISCO - Sean Payton is wasting no time embarking on a media career - and also making sure he's a coveted candidate when it's time to get back onto the coaching carousel.

Since his "retirement'' from the New Orleans Saints this week, Payton says "two teams'' have reached out via "back channels'' about his fit as a head coach in their programs.

Dan Patrick tried to push the issue by guessing "Bears and Cowboys.'' Payton's response was, "No, no.'' ... though it's not clear if he was saying "no'' to Patrick's specific guesses or "no'' to his unwillingness to participate in the guessing game.

It's well-known that owner Jerry Jones' Dallas Cowboys and Payton, a former Dallas assistant, have a connection. But Payton (who addressed the Cowboys speculation once already this week) has been adamant that while his departure from the sideline might be temporary (with a year off, maybe working in TV), that it is not specifically designed to jump into Dallas and take over for the still-employed Mike McCarthy.

"I'm not looking at that path right now," he said on the Dan Patrick Show. "At some point. I don't think I'm finished coaching. But I was excited to get two or three calls from people in the TV industry."

Sean Payton doesn't rule out the possibility of returning to the #NFL as a Head Coach, not at all likely. Says he's focused on working in television. No teams have reach out to him directly, but interest has been expressed by two teams via back channels. pic.twitter.com/OKkTEQL6dT

— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 27, 2022

Payton, by the way, still under contract with New Orleans, and as he noted, in order to talk to him officially about a job, teams would have to go through the Saints. Of course, that doesn't include "back-channeling.''

"When I say that, all I'm saying is somebody who's close to someone says, 'Man, you'd be really good here (as a coach),''' he said. "(But) that's not my plan. My plan is for someone to tell me we think you'd be good at in-game analysis or in-studio."

Payton, 58, has been the Saints coach for the past 16 seasons. He won a Super Bowl in 2010 and is of course highly-regarded in all NFL circles.

The Cowboys have a head coach in McCarthy (even as he's not the apple of Jones' eye at the moment due to the playoff loss) and the Cowboys have a defensive coordinator coming back, too, with Dan Quinn making that decision on Thursday. While offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is reportedly getting a second head-coach interview with the Dolphins, sources tell us to expect him back in Dallas as well.

"I'll be honest with you, that might be coaching again at some point," Payton said Tuesday. "I don’t think it’s this year, I think maybe in the future, but that’s not where my heart is right now. It's not at all.”

But that doesn't keep him from flirting coyly about phone calls and back-channeling. In two professional arenas.

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