New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton said he believes the safety of football helmets needs to improve and that it will improve at "warp speed" over the next two or three years.

Payton discussed the topic on ESPN Radio's Russillo and Kanell show Friday when asked if he has any concerns about the future of the game.

"Absolutely," Payton said. "I think the health ramifications and where we need to go, pushing the envelope quickly to catch up to speed with what we're dealing with -- I would say, simply, start with the helmet. I would say we're way behind where should be right now with what we're putting on the players."

"What we're used to right now as a helmet, I think, is going to change at warp speed right in front of our eyes in the next two or three years," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "It really is behind." AP Photo/Brian Blanco

Payton said he had a chance to see a prototype for a new helmet design while at the Senior Bowl in January and it was "unbelievable."

"It's amazing to see," he said. "If you took the analogy of an automobile in the '60s and '70s and how much of the impact passengers received in a collision and fast-forward to where we are now ... I think the same thing is happening and needs to happen with the helmet that we're wearing. So what we're used to right now as a helmet, I think, is going to change at warp speed right in front of our eyes in the next two or three years. It really is behind.

"And it's not until the noise gets real loud that you really see change in any one area. And I think every one of us in this industry hears it, and it's deafening."