Lions coach Sean Payton.
How does that sound?
There’s a chance it could happen. Payton is the highly successful New Orleans Saints Super Bowl-winning coach. But he’s also a longtime friend of Lions interim general manager Sheldon White. They shared an office at Miami (Ohio) University in the mid-1990s, when Payton coached the quarterbacks and White the receivers.
The timing could be right for Payton to make a move. The Saints will finish without a winning record for the second straight year, and quarterback Drew Breeds turns 37 in January. Payton has two years left on his contract, and in October, NFL.