The Denver Broncos are under new management this season, as Sean Payton was hired to take over as head coach of the team. He is replacing Nathaniel Hackett, who was fired after one season on the job. The Broncos Week 5 matchup with the New York Jets, who hired Hackett to be their offensive coordinator, will be full of fireworks after Payton’s harsh words about the job the man he is replacing did.
Alas, before they get to that, there is a lot of work still to do. There is another week of preseason preparations to get through before shifting their focus to Week 1 of the regular season. For Payton, he has to figure out a way to get the Broncos’ offense going.
Bringing in players that he is familiar with from previous stops would be one way to help ease the transition. A few former players have joined the Broncos that Payton coached during his time with the New Orleans Saints; could another be on the way?
According to Zac Stevens, a beat reporter for the Broncos at DNVR.com, there is growing buzz that the Broncos and Saints could look to make a trade. Stevens shared reports from other NFL insiders that Denver could look to make a deal for kicker Wil Lutz. He was signed by the team in 2016 under Payton’s watch and remained with them since.
Lutz is someone that Payton knows well, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Broncos make a move for him. After seeing the meltdown that Brett Maher had last season while kicking for the Dallas Cowboys, can you really blame Payton for wanting to make a move?
Maher did kick for the Saints in 2021 when Payton was still the head coach and Lutz was injured, so he is someone that Payton knows as well. However, Maher set records no one wants to own for missed kicks.
With the Cowboys last season, he went 1-of-6 on extra points in the playoffs. He missed three more in the regular season, while Lutz has missed only seven in his entire career and none in the playoffs.
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