Sean Payton allegedly reached out to Brandon Browner

In this week’s most surprising non-political news, Brandon Browner alleges that Sean Payton reached out to him in April.

In an Instagram post, Browner claims that Sean Payton reached out to him and suggests that Payton wanted to offer him a job. It’s unclear if that means a spot on the roster or on the coaching staff. I doubt we’ll ever find out for sure. It’s entirely possible, from the post, that Payton was just calling to talk about Malcolm Butler. The Butler trade discussions were allegedly in full swing at the time.

Saints fans likely wish they could forget all about the Brandon Browner saga in New Orleans. Browner likely does himself: he took a lot of flak from fans here. With good reason. Browner was one of the least effective CBs in Saints history. There’s some speculation that he could have a more positive impact on this roster now that there are some established and healthy CB1 prospects ahead of him on the depth chart. But if Payton offered him a job, I hope to hell that it was a coaching gig. He is, by all accounts, a good teacher and leader.

Browner allegedly made it clear to Payton that he was not interested in anything related to the NFL.

Payton asked Browner to call him back, and Browner says he did not. But he sent his number to Payton, so I assume they did end up talking. And from his tone in the post, Browner sounds appreciative of Payton and the Saints. But more than that Browner sounds fed up with the league. In the caption, he goes on a rant about the NFL’s drug policies, about his history of failed drug tests due to medications prescribed for injuries.

To that point, it’s hard to argue for Goodell’s perspective. In a league that has a widely recognized history of drug abuse and pain-killer addictions, it’s hard to understand why Goodell insists on banning players for using a non-addictive pain relieving drug that is legal in a few of the states in which the league is located. Marijuana has been shown to reduce pain from injury, but the league refuses to acknowledge it.

Goodell’s abhorrence of any semblance of a political stance is hurting more than just the league’s public image. It’s damaging these player’s lives. He needs to be on the progressive side of history, and to acknowledge that marijuana can help these players more than prescription pain-killers by avoiding addictive dependence.