Pro Football Rumors
JULY 12: Unsurprisingly, Payton says the notion of Belichick joining the Broncos was a short-lived one that never gained much traction. He told Sportsboom’s Jason La Canfora, “[t]here was this moment where I was like, you know, I’d like to hire this guy. I’m just a big fan of Bill’s and I think our league’s better when he’s in it. … But it was just one of those ideas that, you know, sometimes you’ll brainstorm something, and then you’ll quickly move on. But I’ve got a ton of respect for Bill. I think that much of him. And so it was just one of those crazy thoughts.”
As Wickersham noted, Payton never proposed the idea to ownership. His subsequent comments make it plain that one of the more fascinating “what if” scenarios we have heard in some time was nothing more than a passing fancy.
JULY 8: In what would have been a wild turn of events, Broncos head coach Sean Payton considered giving up his job to longtime friend Bill Belichick in 2024, Seth Wickersham of ESPN reports. It would have been a temporary demotion for Payton, who would have run the offense until Belichick broke Don Shula‘s record for most head coaching wins. In the end, though, Payton never proposed the idea to Broncos owner Greg Penner.
Belichick’s 24-year run with the Patriots wrapped up after a 4-13 season in 2023. The eight-time Super Bowl winner (including six as a head coach) has not worked in the NFL since then.
[RELATED: Payton Eyeing Ja’Quan McMillian Extension]
Now entering his second season as North Carolina’s head coach, Belichick is stuck on 333 wins at the pro level. It seems unlikely he will ever return to the NFL to build on that total, leaving the Chiefs’ Andy Reid as the only real near-term threat to Shula’s record of 347 victories. Reid has amassed 307 wins, though it is not a lock the 68-year-old will hang around long enough to go by Shula.
While it is unclear if Belichick would have been open to Payton’s proposal, it is hard to believe Penner would have signed off on it. Expecting Payton to lead them out of a seven-year rut, the Broncos paid a high price to hire him in 2023. Not only did they award Payton a lucrative five-year deal, but because he was still under contract with the Saints, the Broncos had to give up draft compensation. Denver sent a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-rounder to New Orleans for Payton and a ’24 third-rounder.
Payton’s tenure with the Broncos got off to a slow start in 2023, an 8-9 season and their eighth in a row without a playoff berth. The offensive guru did not mesh with quarterback Russell Wilson, leading the Broncos to release the former star and take on a then-record $85MM in dead money. Several weeks later, Denver found a quality replacement for Wilson in 2024 first-rounder Bo Nix.
Payton and Nix have worked...
