Broncos receive permission to interview Sean Payton for HC position, but there's a catch

Sean Payton is very much on the Denver Broncos' radar for their head-coaching position.

So much so, that ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Saturday that the Broncos have asked for and received permission from the New Orleans Saints to interview Payton for that spot. However, there's a catch. Schefter notes Denver has to wait until at least Jan. 17 to conduct its interview in person.

Even though Payton stepped away from the Saints' job prior to the 2022 NFL season, he is still under contract with New Orleans. Any team that wants to hire him not only needs to receive the Saints' permission to interview him, but also offer some form of compensation to hire him.

The Broncos will be in the market for a new coach after the team fired Nathaniel Hackett two weeks ago. Hackett was in his first year with the team, but did not make it the entire way through after a bitterly disappointing start. Things reached a tipping point on Christmas Day with an embarrassing 51-14 loss to a depleted Los Angeles Rams team that had won only four games going into the week.

He was replaced on an interim basis by Jerry Rosburg.

Rosburg was initially brought in by the Broncos earlier this season to serve as an adviser for Hackett when it became obvious he was struggling with in-game decision making in what was his first NFL head-coaching job. 

Payton is the top head-coaching candidate available, and he has reportedly already started to assemble a staff for an eventual return.

Denver is desperate for a big move that can turn the franchise around.

The Broncos have missed the playoffs seven years in a row and are about to finish their sixth consecutive losing season. They also need to find somebody who can hopefully turn around the career of starting quarterback Russell Wilson. 

Denver paid a huge price — in terms of draft picks, players and salary — to acquire Wilson before the 2022 season with the hopes he could be the final piece of a potential Super Bowl puzzle. He has, to this point, been everything but that. The 2022 season was the worst of Wilson's career and calls into question how much he still has left as a top-tier player. 

The Broncos still have an outstanding defense, but one of the league's worst offenses completely ruined any chance they would have had to compete for a playoff spot this season.  

The question for the Broncos is going to be whether or not they can work out a deal with Payton, and what sort of draft-pick compensation they could send to New Orleans to complete the deal. The Wilson trade severely depleted Denver's draft-pick capital for the 2023 class.