Report: Broncos owners spoke to Sean Payton today and there is mutual interest between both sides.

According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Denver Broncos owners spoke with head coaching candidate, Sean Payton on the phone today. He went on to indicate that there is mutual interest between both sides in a potential deal to make him the next Denver Broncos Head Coach.

We first heard from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Denver Broncos received permission from the New Orleans Saints to interview retired Head Coach, Sean Payton. He noted that the Broncos and Saints have not talked about trade details as of yet and that they cannot interview him until the 17th at the earliest.

This was big news and the first real concrete thing we have heard about the Broncos' head coaching search. Things got even more interesting when NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added some more details to this potential marriage. He said that the Broncos and Saints are on the “same page” when it comes to compensation and that the Broncos are willing to pay what it takes to acquire Payton. He continued by saying that the Broncos would like to interview Payton as soon as possible.

Now, Schultz’s report adds that Payton reportedly spoke with the Broncos ownership today(on Saturday) and that there is mutual interest between both sides. The fact they talked is big since the Broncos' ownership has made it known that they will do whatever it takes to get their guy. Also, we don’t know what was talked about in these conversations, but the fact there is mutual interest is a sign that Payton liked what he heard from the Walter-Penner ownership group. Likely a potential fat paycheck also played a big factor in this as well.

Now, the Broncos are likely to face competition for Payton. Reports came out tonight that the Arizona Cardinals are expected to try to interview Payton if they fire Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury. You also have the Rams head coaching job potentially becoming available with Sean McVay mulling his future as well. The rumors were that Payton wanted a job in Los Angeles so that is something to keep an eye on as well.

This is the first domino to fall in the Broncos' coaching search, but with all these reports, it is safe to assume that the Broncos have zeroed in on Sean Payton as their top candidate. We shall see what will happen with Jim Harbaugh in his “will he or won’t he” game. He is still my top choice personally, but that may not be realistic.

I would suck giving up more draft pick compensation for Sean Payton, but I will take that reality over ending up with Dan Quinn coaching the Broncos next year.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Broncos coaching search as they should start happening often in these few days.