Sean Payton says the Broncos were the first team to reach out to him

As we know, it was reported last night that the Denver Broncos have been given permission by the Saints to reach out to their former Head Coach Sean Payton. It was reported that the Broncos owner, likely Greg Penner, reached out to Payton on Saturday and the two sides set up an interview for sometime after January 17th.

Well, Payton, who is currently a member of the NFL on FOX pre-game show confirmed all of this publicly and mentioned how the Broncos were the first team to reach out to him.

As I said, he confirmed that he has to wait until the 17th at the earliest to interview with the Broncos or any interested team. Also, confirmed that he did speak with the Broncos owner which confirms their interest in him as well.

The other interesting note from this short interview was Payton’s mention of the “triangular relationship between ownership, front office, and with the coaches. He said that the quarterback talent on the team currently is not an issue for him and mentioned how that position was “unsettled” when he first took that job, He continued by saying the ownership and functionality of the front office are two things that are most important to him. He ended the interview by keeping the door open for him returning to FOX but how serious that is could be debated.

It kinda feels like Payton will be interviewing the Broncos while they are interviewing him. Ownership will be important and I think the Broncos have the edge there because of their deep pockets, but we will see if the two sides can form a relationship during this interview. As for the “functionality of the front office”, it sounds like he wants to have someone he feels comfortable working with. Now, this could be bad news for current General Manager George Paton, but that is just speculation on my end. There is a lot of smoke out there about Paton’s job is in danger, but we will not know that for sure until the coach is actually hired.

We shall see how this plays out. It sounds like the Broncos want Sean Payton, but does Payton want the Broncos? Money talks, but with rumors of Sean McVay stepping away from the Rams, Payton could covet that job. There was a lot of talk about him wanting to be in Los Angeles, so we shall see how that plays out. The Broncos also have Jim Harbaugh coming in early this week and how that interview goes could change everything.

Things will likely pick up steam in the next 24 to 48 hours so stay tuned to Mile High Report for all things related to the Denver Broncos Head Coaching search.