LOS ANGELES, Dec. 24 (UPI) — Big names surround a certain Los Angeles-area job opening.
Add New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton to the list of qualified candidates to serve as the Los Angeles Rams’ head coach.
On Saturday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Payton is “monitoring” the Rams job.
“With the Los Angeles Rams job open, multiple sources say it is a position Payton is monitoring with sincere interest,” Rapoport reported.
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported last weekend that the Saints are open to trading its coach this offseason. In March, the Saints gave Payton a five-year deal worth more than $45 million.
“League sources said the Saints — adrift in another lost season and with veteran quarterback Drew Brees spiraling in recent weeks — would consider moving the coach should there be suitors, and it would not likely require hefty trade compensation,” La Canfora reported.
The Rams fired longtime head coach Jeff Fisher on Dec. 12.
Payton, 52, is 93-65 in 10 seasons with the Saints. He has never lost more than nine games in a season. The Saints battle the Atlanta Falcons at 4:25 p.m. Saturday in an NFC South clash at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.