The What-If That Could Have Changed Lions History Forever
admin_news
Detroit Lions fans already know Dan Campbell is different. The emotion, the buy-in, the culture—none of it feels manufactured. And now, thanks to a revealing story from former New Orleans Saints left tackle Terron Armstead, we’ve learned just how deep that belief in Campbell ran years before he ever stepped foot in Detroit.
Back in 2019, according to Armstead, some Saints players were so fed up with Sean Payton flirting with the Dallas Cowboys job that they were openly hoping Payton would leave—so Dan Campbell could take over as head coach.
Yes. Really.
The Sean Payton–Cowboys rumors weren’t just noise
Toward the end of Payton’s tenure in New Orleans, rumors swirled that he badly wanted the Cowboys job. Those whispers weren’t limited to media circles—they made their way into the locker room.
There’s even a now-infamous story from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggesting the Saints and Cowboys had a deal in place in 2019, only for it to collapse because Anthony Davis requested a trade, putting Saints GM Mickey Loomis in an impossible optics situation—losing Payton and Davis in the same offseason.
Wild? Absolutely. But believable? Apparently enough that Saints players were already planning for life after Payton.
“We’ve got Dan Campbell”
Appearing on the St. Brown Podcast, Armstead didn’t sugarcoat how players felt at the time.
“It was a point, we was damn-near petitioning to get Sean Payton to get up out of there,” Armstead said as quoted by Pride of Detroit. “We kept hearing rumors of Sean entertaining the Cowboys job, and we were like, ‘If Sean goes to Dallas, Dan Campbell is going to be our head coach. So, Sean, you do what’s best for you and your family. We’ve got Dan Campbell.’”
That quote hits different when you remember Campbell wasn’t even a coordinator. He was the assistant head coach and tight ends coach—and yet, the locker room already viewed him as their guy.
Why players loved Dan Campbell
What’s especially telling is that Armstead wasn’t even coached directly by Campbell. And it didn’t matter.
“He was intense. He loves it. He loves the grind, he loves workers, he loves o-linemen,” Armstead said.
“He loves to run the ball and be physical. He was incredible, bro. We loved Dan.”
If that sounds familiar to Lions fans… it should.
That’s the same identity Detroit has built:
- Physical football
- Respect for the trenches
- Coaches who mean it when they talk about work
Campbell didn’t grow into this persona in Detroit. This is who he’s always been.
A sliding-doors moment for the Lions
Here’s the part that should make Lions fans pause for a second.
If Payton had gone to Dallas in 2019—and Campbell had taken over the Saints—he almost certainly wouldn’t have been available in 2021, when Detroit hired him.
Which raises the uncomfortable (but fascinating) question: Where would the Lions be right now without Dan Campbell?
It’s hard to imagine Detroit’s turnaround without him. The culture shift. The trust. The emotional edge. All of it traces back to Campbell being in the right place at the right time.
Sometimes franchise-altering moments don’t happen on draft night or in free agency. Sometimes they happen because a different team didn’t make a move.
The big takeaway
This story doesn’t diminish Sean Payton’s success. But it does reinforce something Lions fans have felt for years now:
Players don’t just respect Dan Campbell—they believe in him.
They believed in him in New Orleans.
They believe in him in Detroit.
And that belief is the foundation of everything the Lions are building right now.
The post The What-If That Could Have Changed Lions History Forever appeared first on Detroit Sports Nation.
