He did.
Unquestionably.
I tried to spin what he said to have some hope, but its pretty iron clad. He has no desire to a) Throw Lookis under a bus or b) be "traded"
I won't pretend to know what's going to happen with him, but I would put as much faith in his statement as I would in a contract signed in a bar on a wet cocktail napkin at 2:15 am.
First of all, he has not incentive to say anything other than that until something definitely happens, because absent something happening, he will be the coach of the Saints next year (duh!). Basically, he has no incentive to burn bridges that he might have to cross again, so his statement was the prudent thing to say, even if he wants to go somewhere else and even if something is in the works that we don't know about. Until a move elsewhere is finalized, he has to assume he's going to be in New Orleans next season. So yes, it's true he probably has no desire to throw Loomis under the bus (or at least perceives that it's not in his best interests) ... but that doesn't necessarily mean he's not open to a trade.
Second, for all we know, one or more teams might have discreetly contacted the Saints to inquire about potential trade terms. I don't think teams are going to walk too far down the road of trying to acquire Payton until they know that they'll be able to get him at an acceptable price. And they probably won't make it public knowledge (at least not intentionally) until they have a pretty good idea that he's their guy and that they will be able to get him - particularly when they might have other candidates interviewing who they might want if for nothing more than a backup plan.
Again, I have absolutely no knowledge of what is going on behind the scenes, if anything at all. But I think at this point of the coaching search, even if there is something to the rumors of Payton going elsewhere, it's going to be kept under wraps for now.
