Jerry Jones is trying his best to calm down the rumors surrounding his team and Sean Payton. The Dallas Cowboys owner is once again denying any connection to Sean Payton when asked about the former New Orleans Saints coach on Thursday.
“Sean Payton shouldn’t be out there,” Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “For him, the Cowboys, that’s just sheer out of the air. It’s well known we’re good friends and we think a lot of him as a head coach. But in this case, asking the way you’re asking, he shouldn’t be a conversation piece.
There has been speculation about Payton joining the Cowboys since he stepped down as coach of the Saints earlier this offseason, but Jones reassured Mike McCarthy that this is his job for now.
“Mike has got an opportunity here to win a Super Bowl. And he’s got an opportunity to win other Super Bowls. That’s really the measurement of it. Not just for me, but it’s an eternity between right now and this time next year in our game, and I’m not trying to be dramatic. That’s what I should dwell on.”
McCarthy has also been asked about the Payton situation and he sounded like a man who is sick of the rumors.
“It’s a narrative I don’t want to be a part of,” McCarthy said in March. “I don’t think anyone wants to be a part of it – on either side of the fence. In fairness to Sean, he’s being asked the questions. Nothing good comes out of that.”
Payton has since taken his talents and joined Fox for a studio role in 2022.
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The 58-year-old coach could obviously return to the sidelines in 2023. And you can bet that he and the Cowboys will be a topic of discussion if the team falters in the playoffs once again. Payton spent three seasons in Dallas from 2003-05 as an assistant head coach under Bill Parcells.
The job still belongs to McCarthy for now, and there are high hopes heading into next season after last year’s 12-5 finish.
