Sean Payton multifaceted career with the New Orleans Saints is over

 Sean Payton's multifaceted career with the New Orleans Saints is over.

NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport said Tuesday that Payton will step down as the Saints' head coach.

Payton, 58, left the Saints with a 152-89 regular season overall record and a season grade of 9-8, including a Super Bowl win, and 15 seasons, including the 2006 AP Coach of the Year award.

"Honestly, I'm sitting here today and it's fine, I don't know what's going to happen next," Payton told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday. "Look, I've been reading reports and haven't spoken to anyone from any TV or radio station, maybe that opportunity will arise, but every time I read something that says 'Your turn for this job', i have i am my agent don I'm gonna call [yee] and say, 'Don, did you hear anything? Because I haven't heard anything. And it's okay. I think I want to do it, I think I'm going to do it pretty well. Mr B [late owner Tom Benson] didn't like it either, he kept saying "overpriced retirement". And, to be honest, maybe someday I'll go back to coaching. I don't think it will be this year, I think maybe in the future, but my heart is not there right now. It's not at all. "

Payton later reiterated his next stop might be TV.

"I've had some opportunities," he said. "I talked to Drew (Brees) about it a little bit last night. I don't know that part of it that well, but that would be something that would interest me."

Rapoport reported that Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is considered the leading candidate to replace Payton. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is also expected to interview, per Rapoport.

Rapoport reported Sunday that Payton, who had three years remaining on his contract, had not committed to returning to coach New Orleans after an incredibly difficult and challenging season.

Saints owner Gayle Benson confirmed the uncertainty in New Orleans on Monday when she said "I don't think any of us know" what Payton's future with the team is.

Now we have the answer, and the arduous 2021 season will go down as his last with the Saints. Payton acknowledged there might be speculation that he'll look to coach elsewhere in 2022 -- he has often been linked to Dallas, where he served as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach for three years before arriving in New Orleans -- but that isn't on his radar right now.

"I felt like 10 years went by and we talked about the other team for a lot, and I get it, I understand it. But no, my plans are not to be coaching in 2022. And that's just how I feel," Payton said.

Benson, who was in attendance at the news conference, released a statement through the team, professing her gratitude for Payton's contributions to the franchise and the region.

"On behalf of our entire organization, I have the highest appreciation for what Sean Payton has meant to the New Orleans Saints since 2006," Benson said. "Sean came to New Orleans during what was a difficult time for our organization, as well as the entire Gulf South region following Hurricane Katrina. Under his leadership, Sean helped lead this football team to new heights with easily its most successful period, showing what can be accomplished with a combination of vision, hard work, leadership of his coaching staff and players. We are grateful for everything Sean has given to this organization and this city and I give my best wishes to he and his lovely wife Skylene in the future."

Payton's time with the once-woeful Saints was nothing short of remarkable. The coach arrived in 2006, coinciding with the franchise's monumental signing of Brees. Together, Payton and Brees turned a club once known as little more than a laughingstock for much of its existence into a perennial contender.

The turnaround was instant, with Payton's squad winning 10 games in its first season and scoring a Divisional Round win over the Philadelphia Eagles before eventually falling to the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game. Payton would get his shot at a title a few years later when he led the Saints to a 13-3 regular-season finish, a first-round bye and two NFC playoff wins -- including a thrilling overtime triumph over Brett Favre's Minnesota Vikings, a game that would later serve as the source of massive controversy -- on the way to the franchise's first and only Super Bowl triumph.