Report: Sean Payton, Fox Sports 'Deep' in Contract Talks for NFL Studio Analyst Role

Former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is "deep in negotiations" with Fox Sports to become a studio analyst, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

The role would put Payton on Fox NFL Kickoff, the network's Sunday morning show, and he'd also make appearances on the primary pregame show, Fox NFL Sunday.

Fox is still seeking a new No. 1 in-game analyst after Troy Aiman left with Joe Buck for ESPN's Monday Night Football, but Payton will not work during games, per Marchand.

Fox was initially looking at Payton for an in-game role for $10 million annually, per Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.

Kevin Burkhardt will become the network's new lead play-by-play announcer. 

Payton is making the transition to television after announcing his retirement from coaching in January.

The 58-year-old spent 15 leading the Saints, accumulating a 152-89 regular-season record while leading the squad to a win in Super Bowl XLIV. New Orleans reached the playoffs in four straight years until finishing 9-8 last season, the team's first after quarterback Drew Brees' retirement.

There was significant interest from media companies shortly after Payton stepped down as head coach. He took a second meeting with Amazon about potentially joining the streaming service's new NFL broadcasts, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. 

It appears Fox will win the sweepstakes, although it might not be a long-term situation.

As Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports noted, Payton will likely want to get back into coaching eventually. There were also rumors about the coach joining the Miami Dolphins to coach Tom Brady, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.

In the meantime, Payton will seemingly transition to a new studio role in 2022.