New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton knows that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to be a different challenge this season with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski now in the fold. Peyton was on CBS Sports We Need To Talk (via Amie Just of Nola.com) to discuss everything about the upcoming season.

Payton was asked what makes Brady so different from other quarterbacks in the NFL. Payton thinks the best part about Brady is how he makes everyone else around him better.

“[H]e's done it at such a high level for so long that immediately you pay attention to a move like that because it's not just Tom Brady at the quarterback position, it's what he can do to the other players around him. We're watching the [Michael] Jordan documentary on Sunday nights, all of us I'm sure, and you see right away his impact on [Scottie] Pippen, his impact on Horace Grant, his impact on all these other players on his team. I think the same thing we would expect from a lot of the Tampa Bay players. I just think the standard and the level of play will increase dramatically.”

When asked about Gronkowski joining the division, the Saints coach said he is disappointed. He knows it means better competition, and selfishly he wishes he would have stayed retired or went to a different division.

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JC Latham (Alabama), Chris Braswell (Alabama not Jaguars), Cornelieus Johnson (Michigan) in action behind a New Orleans Saints logo with a 2024 NFL Draft background.

Dylan Bruton ·

“There's always a ‘darn.' You don't want good players to go to your division. I'll be honest. My nose would grow like Pinocchio if I said, ‘Oh wow. Good for us. There'll be a lot more competition.' It's ‘darn' because he's a really good player. So, again, hopefully he's limited in what he can do in his training because he's a year and a half removed.”

The NFC South is going to be ultra-competitive this year with all four teams having the chance to maybe make the playoffs. The marquee matchups in the division will be the two times the Saints and Buccaneers go head to head.