The NFL rumor factory seems to have a specific devotion to Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints.
Back in 2012, there were considerable rumbles that Payton, while suspended, would become a free agent at season's end. It didn't happen. Last year, the Saints began a soft rebuild and again the talk was about Payton's exit. He shot them down, yet still they persisted and yet it still didn't happen.
This year, the same cycle is repeating itself.
On Monday, he was asked about the rumored interest of several teams in him as their new head coach. Payton dismissed the talk yet again but did say that, eventually, his time with New Orleans will come to an end.
"Let's go back through it," Payton said via Pro Football Talk. "A year ago there was a report from Peter King...I think that happens when you're in year ten, I think, and you're not having success. There's this, 'Well, you know, is there another job he'd be interested in?' So my point is if you predict that every year at some point someone's gonna be right, whether you retire or you're let go. I mean, I think that's just a little bit of the nature of our game right now. I don't know what else to say.
"I love it here. I'm close to my children. I bought a - just built a brand new place here. So you get tired of answering the questions and yet I understand you asking. And I'll say what I said before. This is where I see myself. And I've said that now, for however many years."
Okay, so Payton wants to remain in New Orleans. Check. But that won't stop other teams from trying to pry him away and it definitely won't stop the endless media-driven speculation surrounding him.
"It happened last year, and it happened three years ago," Payton said. "It was the Dallas Cowboys during the suspension year, it was the Dallas Cowboys before that. It was college before that. It was Michigan, Texas. I mean, it's it. What else do you do?"
The Saints are just 1-4 this season, so Payton shouldn't expect the noise to get any quieter any time soon.
