Who will Sean Payton hire as defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos?
The Denver Broncos are still looking for a new defensive coordinator. With Ejiro Evero being allowed to leave and signing a contract subsequently with the Carolina Panthers ( with the same job title), Denver is looking for a new coach to man the defense under head coach Sean Payton.
One of the rumored candidates was Brian Flores, who Denver was scheduled to meet with on Tuesday. But Flores is now off the market, according to Adam Schefter. Flores is joining the staff of the Minnesota Vikings .
"Steelers’ assistant coach Brian Flores is accepting the Vikings’ defensive coordinator job, per source," Schefter tweeted Monday evening.
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With Minnesota linked to Evero and Flores, the Vikings pivoted to the latter after the former decided that the opportunity and roster in Charlotte was a better situation. Flores meeting with Payton on Tuesday is obviously not going to happen now.
Who is the next most likely candidate for the Broncos at defensive coordinator? Seattle Seahawks associate head coach and defensive assistant Sean Desai now becomes the heavy favorite for the position.
The defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears in 2021, Desai is from the Vic Fangio coaching tree that utilizes a heavy dose of match-quarters defense (cover 4 and cover 6), with a lower reliance on blitzing the quarterback.
In base defense, Desai would keep Denver in a 3-4, but the Broncos would likely play far more nickel and dime sub-packages to combat pass-happy NFL offenses.
If Desai does not land the defensive coordinator position, then former New Orleans Saints co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard would make sense. A defensive coordinator for the Seahawks from 2015-17 and coaching under Payton in New Orleans in 2021, Richard’s familiarity with Denver’s new head coach and experience on that side of the ball would likely be bolded bullet points on his resume.
With Evero out and Flores now off the market, where the Broncos will go at the defensive coordinator spot is one of the biggest moves the team will make for the rest of the offseason. With Desai meeting with Payton over Zoom on Tuesday, perhaps Denver will have its new defensive signal caller in place before the end of the week.
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