PALM BEACH, fla. — Sean Payton has planned the New Orleans Saints’ offseason, done some work on the upcoming draft and jotted down ideas for the start of training camp.
And now, with his season-long suspension set to begin Sunday, he is checking to see if mentor Bill Parcells would run the team while he serves his penalty for allowing a Saints assistant coach and players to operate a crunch-for-cash bounty system.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the Saints were sanctioned for targeting specific opponents, Payton said Tuesday he will soon decide whether to appeal his suspension, something commissioner Roger Goodell said he would allow.
Payton also said he was meeting with Parcells, who lives near Palm Beach, site of the NFL meetings, to discuss the plan for the season.
“For me to be down here, if I didn’t call him or try to set up a time to see him, I’d probably get his wrath,” Payton said.
Payton said he, general manager Mickey Loomis — who is facing an eight-game suspension — and team owner Tom Benson are weighing a number of scenarios. Among them: Does Parcells want to coach?
If Payton appeals, and he has until Monday, Goodell said he would “probably” allow him to continue working past the intended start of his suspension. Goodell also said he would expedite the appeal process and his decision, meaning Payton might only get a few days of work before having to step aside. Payton said he was confident he will coach the Saints again in 2013.
Asked by Sports Illustrated on Monday if he had a desire to coach another team, Parcells, who turns 71 in August, said, “I don’t think so.”
