Hours before they stood on opposite sidelines for a preseason game, Sean Payton and Kellen Moore greeted each other and took a few minutes to chat. Their conversation centered on the trade they had made days earlier, when Payton’s Denver Broncos sent wide receiver Devaughn Vele to Moore’s New Orleans Saints.

But the meeting was also a glimpse into the Saints’ past and present.

Inside the Caesar Superdome, where the men stood, no coach has delivered more victories — more hope — to the city of New Orleans than Payton, the former Saints coach whose reign lasted 15 years. And then there’s Moore — the Saints’ newest coach tasked with reviving the franchise coming off its worst season since 2005, the year before Payton’s arrival.

The parallels between the two are unavoidable.

Moore, lik

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