Mike Florio ,
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The Broncos host the Cowboys on Sunday. The game will reunite former Cowboys offensive coordinator Sean Payton with long-time Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones.
On Friday, Payton was asked during a press conference whether Jones had ever considered hiring Payton.
“Yes, there are two or three stories I’ll tell later in a book,” Payon said. “There’s one that’s unbelievable. There’s one, I told [Broncos chief communications officer] Patrick [Smyth] it today. It’s for a book. I think when I went to New Orleans . . . I think oftentimes in New Orleans, year four, year five, whenever, after the Super Bowl, you’re not going to leave for [Dallas]. It was like always, and year fiften, I’m like, ‘I’m here.’ So I think there were oftentimes those discussions, maybe. . . . I think he said it best, the timing and how everything was just, it was what it was. I think from both sides, there’s a ton of respect.”
One of the stories Payton is referring possibly made its way into Playmakers . In 2019, the Cowboys were poised to trade for Payton. When Anthony Davis requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans (also owned by Saints owner Gayle Benson), the plug was pulled on the Saints sending Payton out of town, too.
Regardless, it’s obvious that there were multiple behind-the-scenes dalliances between Jones and Payton. Whether there were any tampering violations (like the one the Dolphins committed as to Payton in 2022) will depend on the stories that Payton will eventually reduce to writing.
Big Shield combines gambling, pro football, and the mob into a cautionary tale regarding inside information, and the dangers that come from selling it.
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