If suspended coach Sean Payton is secretly trying to leverage the Cowboys against the Saints against each other for his own economic benefit, at least he isn’t being blatant about it.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Payton has not requested permission to attend Sunday’s Saints game in Dallas, where he happens to live.
Having Payton show up in the stands or someone’s suite would have turned a game with playoff implications for the Cowboys into one big subtext, such that it isn’t already.
Payton and his representatives are obviously delighted that he’s been one of the primary storylines this week, as every mention underlines how valuable he is to the Saints, and how potentially valuable he would be to someone else.