Category: sean payton

ESPN says Michael Thomas should reunite with ex-Saints coach Sean Payton

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell sees a “perfect fit” for Michael Thomas on the Broncos. Can he and Sean Payton get back on the same page?

It would be surprising to see Michael Thomas and Sean Payton wearing the same team’s colors again, but you never know. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell made the case for the former New Orleans Saints wide receiver to work with the ex-Saints head coach, saying that the Denver Broncos could be a perfect fit for Thomas as he searches for a new team.

“Denver’s roster is in flux as it rebuilds post-Russell Wilson,” Barnwell wrote, “but after trading Jerry Jeudy, it looks like it will run with Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims as its top two wideouts. Tim Patrick took a pay cut to return, but he has missed each of the last two seasons with injuries. Thomas could reunite with former coach Sean Payton and compete with Patrick for that third wideout role.”

From a pure personnel perspective, it makes sense. The Broncos need a receiver. Thomas is a receiver. That’s a match, right?

Not so fast. Thomas’ relationship with Payton fractured over the years, with Thomas blaming Payton for the ankle injury that started his long-lasting medical issues; Thomas was asked to go out and block late in a blowout win, and to return quickly in order to help Drew Brees in the last year of his career. Thomas was set to leave the Saints after Payton stepped down from his post until Dennis Allen flew out to California to recruit him back to the team.

Payton also benched Thomas and fined him for fighting with a teammate in practice at one point, and there had been other pressures building behind the scenes. So it would be surprising to see the two of them together again. Still, if Thomas isn’t seeing many offers in free agency, this isn’t a possibility we should rule out.

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Sean Payton starting the same rebuild in Denver he tried to dodge in New Orleans

The Broncos will be cutting Russell Wilson, meaning Sean Payton has entered the same rebuild in Denver he dodged in leaving New Orleans:

The Denver Broncos will be cutting Russell Wilson at the start of the new league year on March 13, meaning Sean Payton has entered the same rebuild situation he tried to avoid in leaving the New Orleans Saints: a team without a starting quarterback fans can believe in that’s saddled with more dead money than any of its peers.

Good luck to him. Payton without Drew Brees is beginning to look a lot like Bill Belichick without Tom Brady. Belichick’s record as a head coach without Brady was 82-98, a winning percentage of .455. By comparison, Payton has gone 25-21 (.543) in games he’s coached without Brees under center. So he’s not quite there, but he’s trending in the wrong direction after limping to an 8-9 finish with the Broncos last year.

Now, we should be honest: all reporting has said Payton was open to returning to the Saints after his one-year sabbatical in 2022, having felt burnt out after two very difficult seasons at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. If he’d returned, maybe he would have brought Teddy Bridgewater in to compete with Jameis Winston for the starting job, or taken things in another direction. But the Saints had moved on and felt there was no going back.

Either way, Payton must now tackle the challenge he avoided in splitting with New Orleans. He needs to find a real quarterback who can execute his offense and compete for a division title in the AFC West, where Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have won it eight years in a row. And he’ll be attempting it under very real salary cap restraints. It’s a similar situation to where he left the Saints after Brees hung up his cleats but he’s facing a steeper degree of difficulty with a powerhouse rival in the division.

So, again: good luck to him. He’s going to need it. Meanwhile, the Saints have their own problems with a head coach who has won fewer games in his career than Payton won in games without Brees — Dennis Allen, who is 24-46 during his time with the Saints and Raiders. The two coaches will go head-to-head when the Broncos visit the Caesars Superdome during the 2024 season.

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Report: Sean Payton hiring another former Saints player to his coaching staff

ESPN reports that Sean Payton is adding another former Saints player to his coaching staff: longtime Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard

Here’s Sean Payton with a big here: ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler report that the Denver Broncos are hiring another one of Payton’s former New Orleans Saints players to his coaching staff. Jim Leonhard is in discussions with Denver to return to the NFL as the Broncos defensive backs coach.

Leonhard has been a big name in the college ranks — he rose to prominence as the defensive coordinator at his Wisconsin alma mater, developing many future NFL players, and he most recently worked at Illinois as a senior analyst. But before that he played in the NFL for a decade. He joined the Saints for training camp back in 2013.

He’s also interviewed for several NFL openings in recent years, but it looks like his first shot will come in Denver working with his old coach. Payton has given many of his former players opportunities to work on his coaching staff. Some of them are still with him on the Broncos like offensive line coach Zach Strief, assistant special teams coach Chris Banjo, and offensive quality control coach Logan Kilgore.

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All 20 of the former Saints coaches and players joining Sean Payton’s Broncos

All 20 of the former New Orleans Saints coaches and players joining Sean Payton on the Denver Broncos, from Joe Vitt to Wil Lutz:

Sean Payton brought a lot of people with him to the Denver Broncos when he left the New Orleans Saints — and he may not be finished yet. Payton has brought on former Saints assistant coaches like Joe Vitt, Mike Westhoff, and Zach Strief as well as players including Adam Trautman and Wil Lutz. Now he’s making moves in the front office. And recently-fired Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael is expected to reunite Payton in an undetermined role, too.

It’s an expansive list. Here’s everyone in Denver we could track down who previously worked for Payton in New Orleans:

Saints eligible to be forced into ‘Hard Knocks’ feature in 2024

The Saints are eligible, again, to be forced into this year’s ‘Hard Knocks’ feature. But so are Sean Payton’s Broncos:

Is this the year the New Orleans Saints spend training camp in front of cameras? Dennis Allen’s team is one of three teams who can be forced into a feature for the annual “Hard Knocks” documentary series from HBO and NFL Films.

Of course the league would prefer a team volunteer for some time in the spotlight. But many organizations view the “Hard Knocks” experience as an unneeded distraction during a pivotal time of the year, so it’s not often that anyone steps up.

And there are rules defining which teams are eligible for forced coverage: teams that do not have a first-year head coach which missed the playoffs in either of the last two seasons, and who have not already been featured on the documentary series during the last decade.

That leaves the Saints as one of three squads for it, along with the Chicago Bears and the Denver Broncos. We’re guessing Sean Payton is going to reject any overtures from the “Hard Knocks” producers with vehemence. The Bears could be a better fit than the Saints, but we’ll have to wait and see how things shake out over the summer.

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As expected, ex-Saints WR Tre’Quan Smith signs with the Broncos

As expected, ex-Saints wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith signed with the Broncos practice squad. He’s one of nine former Saints players in Denver:

As expected, ex-New Orleans Saints wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith signed with the Denver Broncos practice squad after visiting last week. He’s one of nine former Saints players who made the trip to Denver for a reunion with their old coach Sean Payton.

And Payton’s Broncos are lucky to have started the season with a 1-3 record. Here are all of those former Saints players on their roster or practice squad:

After being let go by the Saints, Tre’Quan Smith is visiting the Broncos

This was widely expected. After being let go by the Saints, Tre’Quan Smith is visiting the Broncos:

After being let go by the New Orleans Saints, wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith is visiting the Denver Broncos, per 9 News Denver’s Mike Klis. Smith has an opportunity to team up with his old coach Sean Payton who has struggled to get the Broncos going amid his 0-3 start. Smith was recently released from the Saints injured reserve list after missing the first three games and most of training camp with a groin issue.

Klis reports that Smith will arrive in Denver on Wednesday night for an entry physical and visit at the team facility. If all goes well, he’ll likely sign with the Broncos — joining old teammates like Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Wil Lutz, Jordan Jackson, Dwayne Washington, Michael Burton, Chris Manhertz, Lucas Krull, and Adam Trautman. There has been no shortage of former Saints players in Denver under Payton’s management of the team. Another former Saints wideout, Marquez Callaway, spent the summer with the Broncos before joining the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad after roster cuts in August.

Will Smith join them too? We’ll have to wait and see, but there’s a lot of interest. It’s unlikely he’ll singlehandedly turn things around for Payton’s team but it’s clear that they see a vision for him to help their team.

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Saints projected to receive a valuable 2024 draft pick from Sean Payton’s 0-3 Broncos

The Saints are projected to receive a valuable 2024 draft pick from Sean Payton’s 0-3 Broncos: the top selection in the second round

Look, there isn’t a lot of great news surrounding the New Orleans Saints after Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. So forgive us for looking ahead a bit.

It’s early, but right now the experts at Tankathon project the Saints to receive a valuable pick from the Denver Broncos in the 2024 NFL draft as compensation for trading their former head coach Sean Payton: the first selection in the second round, at No. 33 overall.

That isn’t a first-rounder, but it’s as close as you can get.

Sure, things could change if Payton and his Broncos turn things around and rattle off a series of wins. But right now they’re one of the NFL’s worst teams, and they were just beaten by the powerhouse Miami Dolphins by a staggering tally of 70-20. It’s going to take a while for that team to seriously compete.

And the Saints stand to benefit from their struggles. They received the No. 29 pick in the 2023 draft from Denver, which they invested in standout defensive tackle Bryan Bresee. If they can find a similarly impactful player with this second-round choice in 2024, they’ll be well on their way to sustaining success.

This doesn’t come without some bad news. The Saints don’t control their own pick in the second round, having traded it to the Philadelphia Eagles a year ago so they could get left tackle Trevor Penning in the first round while moving up for wide receiver Chris Olave. Tankathon projects that pick to fall at No. 48 overall before transferring to Philadelphia. So the Saints effectively moved up 15 spots by trading Payton to the Broncos, at least in these way-too-early predictions.

If you’re curious, here are the last five players selected at No. 33 overall:

  • 2019: CB Byron Murphy Jr. (Arizona Cardinals)
  • 2020: WR Tee Higgins (Cincinnati Bengals)
  • 2021: CB Tyson Campbell (Jacksonville Jaguars)
  • 2022: DL Logan Hall (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
  • 2023: QB Will Levis (Tennessee Titans)

That isn’t a bad group to sample from. Wherever the Saints end up picking with this selection from the Broncos, let’s hope they find a good player. But it sure would be nice to go back-to-back at Nos. 32 and 33 after winning a Super Bowl championship.

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Sean Payton gets ‘Ambushed’ by Bill Vinovich after surprise onside kick

Broncos head coach Sean Payton got “Ambushed” by referee Bill Vinovich after opening his tenure with a surprise onside kick:

You couldn’t script this any better. Sean Payton opened his Denver Broncos tenure with one of the most iconic plays of his New Orleans Saints career — or at least he tried to. Payton called the same “Ambush” onside kick he dialed up to open the second half of Super Bowl XLIV for the opening kickoff in Sunday’s Week 1 game against the Las Vegas Raiders, and at first it worked out. Former Saints kicker Wil Lutz did his job well.

Denver recovered. Players celebrated on the sideline and fans were raucous in the stands. Announcers on the broadcast couldn’t believe the gutsy decision. And then Bill Vinovich emerged.

That’s right — the head referee from the 2019 NFC championship game debacle, who neglected to throw a penalty flag or own up to the mistake that let the Los Angeles Rams get away with a blatant pass interference foul, helping to cost the Saints (and Payton) another Super Bowl berth. Vinovich hasn’t worked a game in New Orleans since that incident, but he was on hand when Payton’s Broncos hit the field.

And he threw the flag this time. Vinovich fouled Denver for an illegal touch penalty on cornerback Tremon Smith, wiping out the would-be onside kick. The Raiders took over inside Broncos territory instead and quickly drove downfield to take a 7-0 lead.

Ouch. Payton took a ton of Saints players and coaches with him this offseason after accepting the Broncos job. But he can’t take the playbook with him.

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Sean Payton’s Broncos trade for Pro Bowl Saints kicker Wil Lutz

It turns out there was something here after all. Sean Payton’s Broncos are trading for former Pro Bowl Saints kicker Wil Lutz:

Wow. We were told this might happen, and now it has: the New Orleans Saints have traded former Pro Bowl kicker Wil Lutz to the Denver Broncos, where he’ll reunite with his old coach Sean Payton. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport broke the news.

Lutz fell off last year after missing the entire 2021 season with an injury, and the Saints found a promising young kicker in Blake Grupe who pushed him hard for the job. Now Lutz is going to Denver, Grupe is staying in New Orleans, and we’re waiting to see what the Saints got in compensation.

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