Sean Payton has a motivation technique for the Saints to beat the Eagles

Every coach has their own way to motivate their team. Doug Pederson said earlier this week that being in the Divisional Round of the playoffs is fuel enough for the Eagles to put forth their best effort. Sean Payton had a bit of a different plan.

During a players meeting on Monday, Payton brought in the Lombardi Trophy, a Super Bowl ring, and a glass box filled with more than $200,000 cash — each player’s potential bonus. The Saints head coach told his players if they wanted this windfall, all they needed to do was win three more games.

“If that don’t get you amped up, I don’t know what will,” Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins told NFL.com on Wednesday. “We’re talking about the trophy and if you saw all that money, you’d get excited, too.”

We saw during the Eagles 2018 Super Bowl run that Pederson had a much sweeter tactic to get his guys loose ahead of games. The head coach didn’t skimp on his treats for the players either, assuring them they had some Häagen-Dazs goodness waiting for them after a good film session.

And while a stack of cash can certainly act as the dangling carrot, the Lombardi Trophy — and a fat contract bonus — is likely always in the back of a players mind. I’d much rather have some ice cream than a motivator that is just going to be wheeled out of the locker room shortly after his point is made.

[BLG Note: This certainly wouldn’t be the first time the Saints motivated their players with extra money.]