Sean Payton suggests fixes for NFL’s officiating issues, and they’re pretty much what everyone wants

Sean Payton’s place may soon be on TV, and it sounds like he’s gearing up for the role.

Payton surprisingly stepped away from the Saints in mid-January, but his finger is clearly still on the pulse of the league while various rumors and reports have him pinned for a TV role at some point in the near future.

Speaking with Peter King in his “Football Morning in America” column, Payton tackled one of the league’s hot-button issues: officiating. The former Saints head coach offered a few suggestions to fix for the NFL’s apparent officiating issue, and they’re welcome changes:

Let’s remodel the house right now while we’re building a new house for next season. The new house is full-time officials, regionally situated one group in Orlando and the other group in Phoenix, training and working together all year. But that takes a lot of planning, and it might be a house we can’t quite afford right now. Maybe it’s a year or two away. While we do that, we remodel by reducing the variables officials have to deal with. We ask the officials to do too much. Some of the rules we ask officials to enforce are very well-intended but almost impossible to officiate. Helmet-to-helmet, and lowering the helmet to initiate contact … The game’s too fast to see those clearly. We’re not even batting .500 on those. Those are Tuesday officiating decisions—things the league should handle after seeing the tape.

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Payton’s plan is something that NFL fans have been clamoring for for some time, with full-time officials taking the reins. As of now, the NFL doesn’t have full-time officials, and seemingly hasn’t been open to the idea.

In the past, some have offered the solution of employing full-time officiating crews who train year-round for the NFL season, which would keep referees trained and focused for what they may encounter on the field.

Payton also says that the league should probably tone it down on the things that they’re asking officials to determine, including helmet-to-helmet hits, which are “impossible” to officiate, according to the former head coach — something that would be another welcome change.

Payton is not wrong: In game speed, calls are missed with stunning and increasing regularity. Just look at Sunday’s 49ers-Rams matchup, when 49ers linebacker Fred Warner nailed Matthew Stafford with an illegal hit. (Warner would later be regretful of the hit.) 

In any case, Payton won’t be on the sideline to berate refs this upcoming season — but he may be in a TV booth to do so.