3 players with Sean Payton ties the Broncos should target before the deadline

The Denver Broncos could be buyers at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline and could target these three players with ties to Sean Payton. For the right price, Denver should not hesitate at all to swing a trade or two for a player at the deadline. This team clearly needs a bit more roster talent, especially on offense, and there could be a plethora of offensive players available for the right price.

I struggle to see a reason why they should not add a player if the deal makes sense. Just because the Broncos are rebuilding as some suggest does not mean they can't still make a deal. How do teams finish a rebuild...?

They acquire good players.

And that could very much happen at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline. Let's look at three players with connections to Sean Payton that the Broncos should take a look at.

3 players with Sean Payton ties the Broncos should target before the deadline
Erik McCoy, C, New Orleans Saints

Erik McCoy is on injured reserve but is protected to return to football this year. He's 27 years old and among the best centers in the NFL. Drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2019, McCoy made his first Pro Bowl in 2023 and has been called for just 29 penalties in 77 games, according to Pro Football Reference.

The Broncos are currently without starting center Luke Wattenberg. He's on injured reserve and has played somewhat well this year in my opinion. The backup center is Alex Forsyth, a former Oregon teammate of Bo Nix. Forsyth had a rough game in Week 6 against the LA Chargers, and with McCoy still being quite young for an OL player, his fit with the Denver Broncos makes sense.

It would give Denver yet another big-time contract along their offensive line, but that is a position where Sean Payton has invested a ton of resources during his head coaching career. At this point, I would find it shocking if the Broncos brought Garett Bolles back in 2025, so you can essentially think of his as swapping a younger and better player in McCoy for Bolles.

If Denver wants to field perhaps the best interior offensive line in the NFL with Ben Powers, Erik McCoy, and Quinn Meinerz, they'd make this trade in a heartbeat.

Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

Why not shoot for the moon here? There is a very real shot that the New Orleans Saints are 2-5 after seven weeks, which could put a ton of pressure on their GM, Mickey Loomis, to make some move. No one is mistaking the Saints for being a good team, and I guess their 2-0 start was nothing more than some dumb luck.

I did buy into them a little bit after the 2-0 start, but when Dennis Allen is your head coach and Derek Carr is your starting QB (before getting hurt), your ceiling is pretty low. Alvin Kamara was drafted by Sean Payton and the Saints back in 2017, and Kamara is actually averaging the highest rushing yards per game total of his career.

He's on pace for 1,887 scrimmage yards this year, which would be the highest total of his career. Kamara has seven touchdowns already and had 10 total in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Sean Payton knew how to get the best out of Alvin Kamara, so to me, this could be one of the more major moves that the Broncos could possibly make. With Kamara, the Broncos would be getting an above-average RB and an excellent receiving back, and this type of player would be perfect for a rookie QB like Bo Nix to have at his disposal.

Juwan Johnson, TE, New Orleans Saints

Juwan Johnson caught 42 passes for 508 yards and seven touchdowns from the TE position in 2022 and has been with the Saints since signing as an undrafted free agent back in 2020. It can't hurt for the Broncos to coordinate a pick-swap with the Saints to get Johnson in the orange and blue. He's caught 12 passes for 118 yards and one touchdown this year and had 368 yards in 2023.

There could be better tight ends out there for the Broncos to target at the deadline, but Johnson being familiar with Sean Payton may make him a stronger fit overall. The Broncos have gotten virtually zero production from the TE room this year, so any type of boost could help.