Sean Payton revealed how Ron Rivera’s grim employment prospects are

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton revealed a grim detail about Ron Rivera’s employment status leading the Washington Commanders.

Sean Payton spilled some major tea on Radio Row in the lead-up to Super Bowl 57 in Arizona.

The brand-new head coach of the Denver Broncos must be forgetting that he no longer works for FOX as a studio analyst because what he said about the Washington Commanders is absolutely jaw-dropping. He was asked by Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio about him returning to the New Orleans Saints, but Payton pretty much hinted that Ron Rivera is not for long in Washington.

“Everyone’s waiting to see what happens in Washington. There was some interest from some potential ownership groups that are going to be bidding on, that have currently bid on that team, that are getting ahead of the game saying, ‘Hey, if we get awarded this team, would you?’”

Essentially, whatever ownership group buys the Commanders will want a new head coach. At least, that’s the sense Payton, a recent coaching candidate, got.

Sean Payton hints Ron Rivera is not for long leading Washington Commanders

The thought that new ownership in Washington would want to move on from Rivera is not all that shocking. This tends to happen as part of the recent sports acquisition phenomenon known as new owner syndrome. A new head coach and front office is swiftly followed by a rebrand of sorts. What is shocking is how candid Payton was about this. He will go to work for new ownership, too.

The Walton-Penner Family did not hire Nathaniel Hackett in the first place. It made it very easy for the new Broncos ownership group to move on from their ineffective head coach midway through his first year on the job. Payton is a Super Bowl-winning head coach and had been a primary pillar to the success of Saints football over the last decade-plus. Hiring him would be a win for anyone.

Surely, what prospective Commanders owners told Payton was confidential, but we cannot reasonably expect he would have taken the job if it was offered to him. Prior to taking over in New Orleans, all Payton knew in the NFL was the NFC East. His three previous coaching stops were all Washington division rivals. He has great admiration of the organization, but it is such a mess now.

Rivera has brought stability amid chaos in the nation’s capital, but a new owner means it is over.