People really need to understand trade value, especially draft pick value

A late first round pick and an early to mid second round pick (which is likely for Denver next season) comes out to about 1100-1200 points in draft value. A mid third round pick is in the range of 175-200 points. That's literally all the Saints gave up. Payton was never an asset that could be used on the field and was never coming back, so you're not giving him up.

In terms of useful assets, the Saints basically traded a third round pick for a first and a second. I suspect that the Broncos were originally offering just a 1 and a 3, but a second is more than twice as valuable as a third.

This is all on top of the fact that both Payton and the Saints had strong bargaining positions - it has to be recognized that he had leverage. If the Saints demands are too much, they could lose out on negotiating partners and Payton goes back to Fox, leaving the Saints empty-handed in next year's first round.

As someone pointed out, there was a very limited number of teams who met the requirements of having the the willingness to give up picks and control for Payton. Would that number have increased or decreased in 2024 if the Saints played too hard and the Broncos walked? Who knows, but that's a huge risk for a team with serious cap issues that needs to rebuild with first round picks to maximize the five year rookie contract.