Report: Broncos HC Sean Payton to Meet With DC Ejiro Evero
The biggest domino for the Denver Broncos this offseason fell earlier this week. With Sean Payton being announced as Denver's new head coach, he will become the franchise’s 20th head coach and likely the biggest coaching hire in the organization’s history.
It was costly to obtain the future Hall-of-Fame coach, with Denver sending the 29th overall pick in the upcoming draft along with its own 2024 second-rounder to New Orleans in exchange for Payton and the Saints’ 2024 fourth-round pick, but if he can continue to prove himself as one of the top-five offensive innovators in the NFL and fix an ailing Russell Wilson, it will have been worth the cost.
With Payton's arrival, Broncos fans should rest easy knowing the offensive side of the ball should take massive strides forward. Even if Wilson fails to live up to his trade and contract and Denver can’t turn over the personnel immediately to improve the team, the long-term perspective for the Broncos scoring points should be much improved with Payton at the helm.
Now all eyes in Denver turn towards who Payton might surround himself with on his coaching staff. He has a number of former offensive assistants who could be joining him in Denver, such as the recently-fired Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and former Saints O-line and tight ends coach Dan Roushar.
While Payton will likely be the de facto play-caller and designer on the offensive side of the ball, there are questions as to what happens in Denver on the defensive coaching staff. From earlier offseason reports, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Payton had wanted to have Broncos former head coach Vic Fangio join his coaching staff as his defensive coordinator.
While things did not end great for Fangio in Denver, only those with an ax to grind can question his schematic defensive mind. With Payton coming to Denver, could those earlier reports of Fangio joining Payton’s staff be true, even if it would mean Fangio would return to the place where he so recently served as head coach?
Alas, that will not be happening, as it was announced on Thursday that Fangio would be joining the Miami Dolphins to be the defensive coordinator opposite of Mike McDaniel. Fangio and McDaniel are certainly a fun and contrasting pair, but where will Payton and the Broncos turn for their defensive coordinator?
It was reported today by NFL insider Michael Silver that Payton would be meeting Ejiro Evero on Thursday to talk about the defensive coordinator staying in Denver for the 2023 season. Evero has been a very hot candidate for head-coaching vacancies this NFL cycle, but it appears teams would like to see him coordinate a defense for another year before being making the jump to the next level.
Evero may still be selected as head coach by the Indianapolis Colts or the Arizona Cardinals, but it seems most likely Evero is a defensive coordinator once again next season. The question remains, where will he be coaching?
Evero is currently under contract in Denver, but it doesn’t seem like a sure thing Payton will keep him on staff in 2023. It's possible Payton might want to go a different direction for the defensive coordinator position on his staff. More likely, it could be that Evero would like to coach elsewhere this upcoming season rather than stay in Denver.
Given how Evero rejected Denver's offer to become the interim head coach in December, in a sort of protest against the firing of former head coach (and Evero’s best friend) Nathaniel Hackett, it's possible he may not want to be a part of the organization going forward. Denver could tell him 'too bad' but keeping an unhappy employee who perhaps doesn’t want to be there is not a good way to build a positive culture in a locker room.
Evero has coached under such influential defensive minds as Brandon Staley and Raheem Morris and has become one of the more impressive young defensive coaches in the league. It might be in Denver’s best interest to keep Evero on staff as the defensive coordinator.
While it might only be a single season, with Evero likely being another hot head coaching candidate next offseason, losing Evero to the NFL head-coaching ranks after two seasons on the staff would result in Denver obtaining a compensatory draft pick, given the new minority promotion rule in the NFL.
The Broncos players have verbally stated their support for Evero as not only a relatable coach but a brilliant tactician as well. It would be great if Payton could convince Evero to stay for another season, but that may not happen.
In a recent report from ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the Minnesota Vikings have been dragging their feet on their defensive coordinator hire to see what would happen with Evero in Denver. The Broncos have also rejected teams’ requests to interview Evero for defensive coordinator openings, such as the Atlanta Falcons earlier this offseason.
Who will be the Broncos' defensive coordinator? Given the timing of Fangio announcing he is going to Miami, followed immediately by a report that Payton would be meeting with Evero, it feels safe to assume that Fangio was likely Payton’s first choice and the team is now pivoting to Evero.
Can Payton and potentially a new contract with a substantial pay bump keep Evero in Denver for another season? And if not, who could the Broncos bring in to be their new defensive coordinator?
Perhaps Denver could turn to the recently fired co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard from the Saints? Only time will tell.
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