New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton agrees new contract

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has revealed that he has agreed a new five-year contract with the franchise.

Payton, who has been in charge of the team for a decade, has an 87-57 record during his time with the team. He missed the entire 2012 season after being suspended.

ESPN reports that the new deal is worth around $45m, and will keep Payton on board until 2020.

He is a highly-regarded figure in New Orleans having taken over in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, subsequently leading the Saints to five play-off appearances and their only Super Bowl championship in February 2010.

Payton actually had the physical, paper contract with him in his briefcase at Wednesday's NFL owners' meeting.

There had been considerable speculation during the 2015 season that the former New York Giants offensive co-ordinator would depart New Orleans and seek a different challenge.

But Payton insisted at the end of the regular season that the Saints were the only team he could see himself coaching, and said on Wednesday that it was a "formality" that he would put pen-to-paper on a new contract.

"There's so much of you in there, that I don't see myself working anywhere else," said Payton. "There's been really good stability and consistency in ownership. That stability, obviously, I don't take for granted."

Payton is the NFL's third longest-serving head coach, alongside the Green Bay Packers' Mike McCarthy. Only New England's Bill Belichick and Marvin Lewis of the Cincinnati Bengals have been with their teams longer.