The Carolina Panthers will be searching for a new head coach in the coming months, and at least one former rival is likely on their list of prospective candidates.
Matt Rhule was fired as head coach of the Panthers on Monday in an unsurprising move. Steve Wilks has been named interim head coach. Almost immediately after the Rhule news was announced, people started speculating that the Panthers will try to hire former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.
The issue, of course, is that Payton remains under contract with the Saints through 2024. That means Carolina might have to work out a trade even if Payton were interesting in coaching the Panthers.
Carolina would have to pay the price to keep him in the division. As they say, everything has a price. https://t.co/a5zC3dcjGs
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) October 10, 2022
It would stand to reason that the Panthers would have to pay more than other teams to secure the rights to Payton. The Saints would likely want draft pick compensation. It would just be a matter of how much.
Interestingly enough, there was a report after Payton stepped away from the Saints last offseason that the Panthers already had their eye on him for 2023. The Panthers even responded to the rumor.
Payton, 58, is expected to return to coaching at some point. He will likely wait for the right opportunity, and he may not even have interest in the Panthers job. If he does, that interest will almost certainly be mutual.
