Report Reveals Where Things Stand Between Broncos & Sean Payton
All the Sean Payton hype has seemingly evaporated. For two weeks, it seemed that a mighty wave of momentum was going to carry Payton into the head-coaching clutches of the Denver Broncos.
That changed on Monday amid conflicting reports on whether the Broncos had scheduled a second interview with the former New Orleans Saints head coach. Cut to Thursday, and we've learned that Payton has been unable to garner a second interview with any of the clubs he's met with, which, besides Denver, includes Arizona, Carolina, and Houston.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport added some insight into why the red-hot Payton market seems to have suddenly cooled.
“I’m saying that as of right now, it does not seem like there is a place for Sean Payton,” Rapoport said on NFL Now. “We’ll see, but it does not seem like there is a place in the coaching world right now.”
To those Broncos fans who've been following every beat of this storyline, it might be shocking to hear that Payton isn't as coveted as media reports made him out to be. Relative to Denver's interest in Payton, it was the former coach's FOX Sports colleague Colin Cowherd who reported earlier this week that the Broncos had "made a decision" that Payton was their man.
Cowherd reported that even Russell Wilson went to bat, telling the Broncos ownership group that Payton was his preferred choice for head coach. In retrospect, Cowherd's report now sounds like the deed of a co-working buddy doing his level best to keep Payton's market alive.
Reports closer to home have shot down Cowherd's assertion that a.) the Broncos had decided on Payton and b.) that Wilson ever advocated on the coach's behalf. KOARadio's Benjamin Allbright, in particular, was quite vociferous in his rebuttal of Cowherd's reporting this week.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer has been saying for about a week now, that the longer Payton languishes on the market, the more likely it is that he returns to FOX for at least another year. All of this begs the question, why is the NFL telling Payton no?
My educated guess is that it comes down to two things: money and the cost of acquiring his rights from the Saints.
If reports are true that Payton was seeking a contract of $20-25M/year, such a deal would re-set the NFL head-coaching market. The Broncos' wealthy Walton/Penner ownership group could afford such an ask.
But combined with what it would then take to get the Saints to agree to trading him to the Broncos, perhaps that was the bridge too far for Denver's savvy new owners. Reports have run the gamut from New Orleans seeking at least two first-round draft picks in exchange for Payton to a first-rounder and a third.
Either way, when the NFL head-coaching market offers other intriguing, well-qualified candidates like San Francisco's DeMeco Ryans and Dallas' Dan Quinn, neither of whom would be seeking a record-setting contract and could be hired without the additional wrinkle of giving up precious draft capital to acquire them, it's understandable why the Broncos would have second thoughts about pursuing Payton.
Never say never. It is the NFL. But Broncos Country would be wise to start thinking past Payton and contemplate the very real possibility of the team hiring Ryans or Quinn. Even former Stanford head coach David Shaw is being floated as a purported finalist for the Broncos job.
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