The Post has learned that Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton and Fox Sports are in deep negotiations to make the former Saints coach an NFL studio analyst.
Payton will be on “Fox NFL Kickoff,” the network’s Sunday morning show, and contribute to his pre-game premiere, “Fox NFL Sunday,” according to sources. Fox and Payton only discussed studio positions, not a game analyst job. The spot for Fox Chief Analyst is vacant because Troy Aikman left for ESPN.
A deal with Payton was not completed.
According to sources, Payton has also attracted a lot of interest from Amazon Prime Video in her previous show “Football Thursdays”.
Fox Sports declined to comment.
For Payton and Fox, the deal will be a good test of whether he has a future in television. There is a strong feeling that Payton, 58, may be back in training soon. He chose to walk away from the Saints after 15 seasons, which included winning the Super Bowl in 2009.
Payton will be a regular on “Fox NFL Kickoff,” the 11 a.m. show hosted by Charissa Thompson. On her top show, “Fox NFL Sunday,” Jimmy Johnson, 78, doesn’t always appear on the full roster for Sundays, which would allow Payton to be in the big group as well.
While Payton could return to training, if he’s good on TV and likes it, he might one day succeed Johnson full time.
Meanwhile, Fox is still figuring out how he would replace Aikman on the top NFL team. Aikman and Joe Buck left for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.” Kevin Burkhardt is replacing Buck as the #1 player, although Fox has yet to announce it.
As for Burkhardt’s partner, Greg Olsen could be promoted to the first team, but Fox could also try to bring in NBC’s Drew Brees to be either in his top booth as a solo analyst, in a three-man team teaming up with Olsen or Game Analyst No. 2. Fox vowed to take his time. In making the decision, this commitment stuck.
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