What is Sean Payton’s Net Worth?
Sean Payton is a retired American football coach who has a net worth of $24 million. By the time of his retirement at the end of the 2021 NFL season, Sean Payton was bringing in a salary of $9.8 million. He retired in the final year of a 5-year $45 million contract extension singed in March 2016.
Early Life
Sean Patrick Payton was born on December 29, 1963, in San Mateo, California. He grew up in Naperville, Illinois, and played quarterback for Naperville Central High School. Sean Payton went on to play football at Eastern Illinois University where he was successful and helped lead the Panthers to an 11-2 record and quarterfinals of the Division 1-AA Playoffs in 1986.
Playing Career
Sean Payton was not drafted in the 1987 NFL Draft, but he received a tryout invitation from the Kansas City Chiefs for one day. During the inaugural season of the Arena Football League, Payton played quarterback for the Chicago Bruisers and Pittsburgh Gladiators before his rights were sold to the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. He became a member of the Chicago Bears during the 1987 NFL players strike before joining the Leicester Panthers of the professional UK Budweiser National League in 1988. He then returned to the United States to take up coaching.
Early Coaching Career
Sean Payton started off as an offensive assistant at San Diego State University. He also held assistant coaching positions at Indiana State University, Miami University, and Illinois. In 1997, Sean Payton landed the Quarterbacks Coach job with the Philadelphia Eagles. He then served as Quarterbacks Coach for the New York Giants before being promoted to Offensive Coordinator. And in 2003, Sean Payton joined Bill Parcells as an assistant head coach and Quarterbacks Coach for the Dallas Cowboys. He became a highly sought-after coach in 2004, so the Cowboys gave him a pay raise and then a promotion the next year to Assistant Head Coach/Passing Game Coordinator.
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New Orleans Saints
In 2006, Sean Payton got his first head coach gig with the New Orleans Saints after the team struggled the year before during the Hurricane Katrina season. He paired with quarterback Drew Brees to turn the team around. They made the 2006 playoffs and advanced to their first NFC Championship appearance in franchise history. For his efforts, Sean Payton won the AP NFL Coach of the Year Award. And following the 2009 season, the Saints won their first Super Bowl ever. Over his 16 years as head coach of the team, Sean Payton helped lead the Saints to three NFC Championship games (2006, 2009, 2018), nine total playoff berths, seven division titles, and the Super Bowl XLIV victory.
“Bountygate” Scandal
Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 NFL season as a result of being involved in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal in which “bounties” were paid out to defensive players under Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams who were able to successfully target and injure players on opposing teams. Payton’s appeal was denied, and he was reinstated in January 2013.
Personal Life
Sean Payton was married to Beth Shuey until 2012. They have two children together: Their daughter Meghan who was born in 1996, and their son Connor who was born in 1999.