Sean Payton says he would be interested in returning as NFL coach in 2023 for 'right situation'

Sean Payton is working for Fox Sports this season after stepping down from his coaching job with the New Orleans Saints in January, but he says he's interested in returning as an NFL head coach in 2023 for the «right situation.»

«If the right situation presented itself, I would definitely be interested,» Payton said on the New Orleans.Football podcast. «And there's no utopia, if you will, when it comes to teams, but if I felt like it was the right situation, I would have an interest in that. That all being said, that could come in a year, that could come in two years.»

Asked what he would be looking for in a coaching opportunity, Payton said that the right ownership and front office is important.

«The most important element is functional ownership (and) front office… because there's a handful of teams that aren't, and those teams, regardless of what takes place, they can win on Sunday but they have trouble winning long term,» he said. «The opportunity to win consistently and the willingness to build the correct culture and all those things.»

Payton will still have two seasons left on his Saints contract after the 2022 season, meaning that if he were to take an NFL coaching job in 2023, his new team would have to compensate the Saints.

The Miami Dolphins were penalized by the NFL in August for having «impermissible communications» with agent Don Yee in January about becoming the team's head coach. The NFL found that the Dolphins «did not seek consent» from the Saints to begin the talks, which occurred before he stepped down from his job with the Saints. The Dolphins eventually hired Mike McDaniel as their head coach.

Payton, 58, left his job with the Saints in January after 16 seasons with the franchise. At his news