The Sean Payton era has come to an end in New Orleans:

Payton has been a frequent target of justified criticism on this website. Back in 2019, he was a jerk to Jamie Apody. He ran up the score on the Eagles. He did the dumb thing where those armed guards went into the Saints locker room with a boatload of cash. Oh yeah, and Bounty Gate. Almost forgot about that. He was suspended a full season for that ridiculous nonsense.

Not to mention, Payton is a perennial underachiever. Here’s what the Saints did every year after winning their Super Bowl:

  • 2010: 11-5, lost in Wild Card round
  • 2011: 13-3, lost in Divisional Round
  • 2012: 7-9, missed playoffs (Bounty Gate year)
  • 2013: 11-5, lost in Divisional Round
  • 2014: 7-9, missed playoffs
  • 2015: 7-9, missed playoffs
  • 2016: 7-9, missed playoffs
  • 2017: 11-5, choked in Divisional Round
  • 2018: 13-3, lost NFC Championship Game thanks to the refs and also blowing a lead and committing a brutal overtime turnover
  • 2019: 13-3, lost in Wild Card round
  • 2020: 12-4, lost in Divisional Round
  • 2021: 9-8, missed playoffs

Three straight seasons of going out early, at home. We would be hammering any Eagles coach if they did this with all of that Saints talent. Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Drew Brees, even going back to the days of Jonathan Vilma and Roman Harper, etc.

When you think about it, Sean Payton is the NFL version of Doc Rivers. He won a Super Bowl with a Hall of Famer more than 10 years ago, then never made it back. He lost four times in the Divisional Round and then got dicked in the NFC Championship Game (although his team blew a second half lead and Brees coughed it up in OT). He was somewhat dickish to the media and would probably say to us “would you ask Belichick that question?” He would say that he’s “earned” the right to not be asked reasonable questions.

Bob is right: