Could Sean Payton be our biggest trade chip?

Many think that Payton may not want to stick around for a rebuild, especially if Brees is gone in the next year or 2. Payton is signed thru 2017 at $8mil a year. People want him fired, but lets get real; you aren't going to fire him and still pay him that large sum of money. But maybe deep down, the Saints want to move on too, no one really knows.

I was thinking last night about the few instances of coaches being traded. Here are a few I found interesting:

quote:

---

The New York Jets allowed head coach Herm Edwards out of his contract in 2006 so he could sign with the Kansas City Chiefs. In exchange, the Chiefs gave up a fourth-round draft selection.

---

quote:

---

At the conclusion of the 2001 season, the Raiders allowed Jon Gruden to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Oakland received first- and second-round picks in the 2002 draft, a first-round pick in the 2003 draft and a second-round pick in the 2004 draft. The Buccaneers also gave the Raiders cash.

---

quote:

---

One day after Bill Belichick was hired by the Jets as head coach in 2000, he quit his job. A few weeks later, he was hired by the New England Patriots as their head coach. After the announcement, the Jets demanded compensation from the Patriots because Belichick was still under contract with the team. The Patriots gave the Jets a first-round selection in the 2000 draft, a fourth-round selection in the 2001 draft and a seventh-round selection in the 2002 draft. The Patriots not only hired Belichick, but also received a fifth-round selection in the 2001 draft and a seventh-round selection in the 2002 draft from the Jets.

---

quote:

---

In 1997, the Jets tried to hire Bill Parcells as head coach. However, he was still under contract with the Patriots who would not release him out of his final year with the team. To get around that, the Jets tried to name Belichick, an assistant to Parcells with the Jets, as head coach and Parcells as a consultant in exchange for two first-round picks in the 1997 draft. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue rejected that deal. But a week later he did accept a deal that involved Parcells to be named head coach of the Jets. The Patriots received third- and fourth-round picks in the 1997 draft, a second-round pick in the 1998 draft and a first-round pick in the 1999 draft. The Jets also donated $300,000 to a Patriots charity.

---

A coach hasnt been traded in the NFL since 2002, but just last year the Browns reportedly had a deal out to the 49'ers for Jim Harbaugh.

I guess the big questions are, is Payton's $8mil per year tradable?

Would he accept a trade offer to a place he may not want to go?

and finally, could we expect the same type of return on a coach that was given 15-20 years ago?