Report: Broncos and Sean Payton have sincere mutual interest in each other

According to 9NEWS Denver’s Mike Klis, head coaching candidate Sean Payton impressed during his interview with the Broncos on Tuesday. The real interesting nugget that Klis dropped was that there was sincere and mutual interest between Payton and the Broncos.

Klis also tweeted out that the two sides have not talked about financial compensation or talked with the Saints about a trade for their former coach, but it was clear the interest between the two parties was mutual.

Things appear to be really heating up between the Broncos and Payton. We had multiple reports earlier today indicating that the Broncos remain in a very strong position to land Payton and one about how Payton was impressed with the Broncos' ownership group. This report by Klis seems to confirm all that and double downs on the interest the two parties have in each other.

With all that said, the Broncos and Payton plan on allowing this process to play out. The Broncos have interviews with the 49er's defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans on Thursday and an interview with the Cowboys' defensive coordinator Dan Quinn on Friday. Meanwhile, Sean Payton is going to fly out to New York on Friday to interview with the Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper about their head coaching vacancy. Tepper is reportedly serious about getting Payton, but Payton’s interest in that job is unknown and I doubt the Saints would be keen on dealing their longtime coach to a division rival.

After the first set of interviews is done, the Broncos plan on pausing the process a bit and deciding on their final one, two, or three candidates to bring in for a second set of interviews. Klis states the final set of interviews will have Greg Penner, his wife Carrie Penner Walton, and majority owner Rob Walton. GM George Paton will be around for a follow-up discussion with the candidate and give them a tour of the facility.

So, we still have a few days for this process to play out and a small wait during the weekend before the process ramps up again next week. It sounds like we will have an announcement on who the new Head Coach will be sometime next week. All signs seem to point to Sean Payton right now, but acquiring him would require a trade, and that could potentially slow the process a bit. In the end, it appears the ultra-aggressive Broncos are swinging big for Sean Payton and may end up landing their guy.