Sean Payton is wasting no time getting back to business. 48 hours being back in the NFL, he’s cleaning house and starting with the firing of Defense Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and secondary coach Ken Flajole. Yesterday Payton mentioned how the defense performance was “keeping him up at night” and I guess he wanted a good night’s sleep.  Gregg Rosenthal reports Payton is looking to switch up the defense philosophy:

“Philosophically we are changing our defense to a 3-4 alignment and right now is the best time to accomplish this transition.”

That was fast. But now you have to wonder who that player scathing opinion of Spagnuolo was and it was a factor in Payton’s decision. Either way it doesn’t take much when as a coach you led your unit to a NFL worst defense in league history.

Some will be skeptical of the Saints switch to a 3-4 defense but I can think of two outside linebackers as possible starters in this new scheme, Martez Wilson and Junior Galette. Each had flashes of potential during the season and putting them in outside as pass rushers can only maximize their potential.

Who Sean Payton will choose as his next DC is anyone’s guess. Romeo Crennel comes to mind but I think he should get another shot at head coach. At least many Saints fans are happy that Spags is gone.

All of The Big Easy is happy now that Sean Payton is back. Here are a couple of quotes from his presser earlier.

“There was no way I was going to another team,” Payton said. He called his contract snafu and holdout a “minor technicality” that took time to work through.

Payton made it clear that he’s not happy with the Saints’ defense. Their problems “keep him up at night.” Payton said that the team will start meetings with the defensive staff immediately and it did not sound like it would be a comfortable experience for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

There has been no conversation with the NFL about getting the Saints’ second round pick back that was lost in the bounty scandal.

The most important one I think is the defensive comment.  In the Sean Payton era, that Saints defense was never a  top 10 defense (even in their Super Bowl year) but to be a league history worst in my opinion puts Steve Spagnuolo on thin ice.  With the Salary Cap hell the Saints can be in and a 2nd round pick still lost from the bounty fiasco, the Saints won’t have a lot of chips to bargain with. But with SP back the Saints will be a contender again in the NFC South.

For more tidbits from Sean Payton’s presser click here