The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported Wednesday that Payton is closing in on a deal with Fox to become a studio analyst on its Sunday morning show, “Fox NFL Kickoff.” The former Saints coach would also reportedly contribute to the pregame show, “Fox NFL Sunday.”
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Per the report, there is still plenty of uncertainty over whether Payton will remain on the broadcast side of the sport for long, or if a return to coaching could be coming up. He stepped down as the head coach of the Saints after the 2022 campaign, his 15th in New Orleans, though at just 58 years old, he is still far younger than other head coaches still in the NFL — Pete Carroll is 70 and Bill Belichick is 69.
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Fox has its replacement for Buck in the booth, turning to one of its other top play-by-play voices in Kevin Burkhardt to step up in the No. 1 role, but there is still Aikman’s vacancy to fill. Marchand speculated that Greg Olsen, who has worked alongside Burkhardt in the booth on Sundays, could join his former broadcast teammate on the top grouping. Fox could also look elsewhere.
One name Marchand has reported as a possibility for Fox in replacing Aikman could be Payton’s former quarterback, Drew Brees. Marchand reported on Monday that Brees is in consideration to move from NBC to Fox. However, he reported that if such a move were to occur, Olsen could still be on the top team, with Brees joining Joe Davis or Adam Amin as another network pairing.
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