One of the most captivating stories taking place in the NFL right now is the looming decision surrounding former head coach, Sean Payton. After stepping away from the Saints for a season and becoming a TV analyst, it appears he now has an interest in returning to coaching.

Teams are lining up for an opportunity to interview him because very rarely does this caliber of head coach become available on the market. He’s a Super Bowl winner and according to ESPN.com, during his “15 years coaching the Saints had the fourth-best winning percentage in the NFL (.631, 152-89) behind the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, and Pittsburgh Steelers.”

As excited as teams would be to hire him, they have to consider the cost. He’s still under contract with the Saints through the 2024 season, so if a team wants him at the helm of their franchise, they’re going to have to give up something to get him.

Most likely, a team will have to send valuable draft capital to the Saints, and then it will cost a franchise a significant amount of money to pay him his salary.

They also have to be willing to change the course of their franchise because he’ll take over with his way of running a team. So, if a franchise was previously going in a different direction, he would send them down a new path.

Each team has to consider whether or not Sean Payton is worth it.

When we look at similar situations in the past, three top coaches have been traded. In 1997, the Jets gave up four draft picks to the Patriots to have Bill Parcells as their head coach. He led them to the AFC championship game in 1998.

In 2000, the Patriots gave up three draft picks to the Jets, so they could give the reins to Bill Belichick, which resulted in six Super Bowls.

In 2002, the Tampa Bay Bucs wanted Jon Gruden to take over their team, so they sacrificed two first-round draft picks, two seconds, and $8 Million to the Raiders. The Bucs won the Super Bowl during Gruden’s first season.

Each of those teams counted the cost, considered the sacrifices, risks, or anything else they had to lose in order to gain an elite head coach, and determined it was worth it. Ultimately, they saw the value and the benefits and decided to go for the opportunity.

Currently, teams like the Panthers, Broncos, Texans, and Cardinals are counting the cost and determining if it’s worth giving up what is necessary to put Sean Payton in charge.

The parallel for us today is found in the Bible when Jesus talks about counting the cost of being His disciple. He offers us grace, eternal life, and peace for our souls – all free gifts for us to receive.

We get to personally and intimately know the Creator of the world and be forgiven of our sins when we receive Christ as our Savior and decide to follow Him as our Lord.

But to become a true follower of Jesus, we must give up our own way, sacrifice our comfort, let go of our worldly desires, love Him more than anything, and go in a different direction.

Our lives change course as He takes over with His way of doing things. We have to be willing to count the cost of being His disciple and then commit to going down a new path with Him in charge.

Jesus explains in Luke 14:25-30;33 (NLT), “A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ‘If you want to be My disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be my disciple.

“’But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, “There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!”‘”

Surrendering our lives to Jesus and following Him daily is the best decision we can make, but we must understand we may have to give up things we used to value as we hand over the reins. Is it worth it? Absolutely!

Today, let’s recognize the value, benefits, and opportunity we have to “hire the best head coach available” and focus on what we’re gaining when we know Him as His disciple. Ultimately, it pales in comparison to anything it may cost us.

I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for the free gift of salvation. I desire to be a disciple of Jesus and pray I’d understand what it truly takes. Help me to willingly give up whatever is necessary to be all in and leave my former life behind. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.