5 things to know about returning New Orleans Saints’ Malcolm Jenkins

Jenkins had the pleasure of flipping off his former coach – and Payton likely respected it

Of all the people to piss off, Sean Payton is at the bottom of the list (rivaled maybe only by Bill Belichick). During the Saints’ somewhat obnoxious 48-7 demolition of the Eagles in 2018, Jenkins took the opportunity to let Sean Payton know just how he felt – and hilariously flipped him the bird.

And yet, the infamously petty coach, who once mocked a Bears’ RB for being short mid-game, brushed it right off. To be fair, he likely knew he had it coming. This play was, well, the definition of unnecessary:

It speaks volumes to Payton’s opinion of Malcolm Jenkins that he not only brushed it off entirely, but he took to the media post-game to speak accolades about his former player.

In fact, he used that opportunity to explicitly lament on Jenkins’ 2014 departure, telling ESPN, “I hate that he got out of here. That was probably as big a mistake as we’ve made here in 13 years. He’s made up of all the right things, and he’s a tremendous competitor.”

Today, Payton proved the sincerity of those comments and snatched Malcolm Jenkins up almost immediately. I, for one, was thrilled to see the move, and had a strong pang of 2010 nostalgia. In a year from now, we may be looking back at the best move of the Saints’ offseason.