The Denver Broncos already saw numerous coaches and other front office members get poached to new teams for 2025. Could this trend continue in 2026?
After a breakout season in 2024, the Broncos saw quite a few people exit for new opportunities, and it was a bit disappointing, as the second Denver sees success, other teams want to cut in. Anyway, if Denver is a top team in the league in 2025 as many predict, even more coaches could get poached.
With the defense where it is now, it would not be much of a surprise to see teams lining up to interview and hire Vance Joseph as their next head coach.
Vance Joseph could be highly coveted in 2026
Unless the Denver Broncos defense has some sort of insane collapse, Vance Joseph is going to be near the top of lists for teams who need new head coaches. Joseph was the head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2017-2018 and then served as the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals from 2019-2022.
Ever since 2023, Joseph has been with the Broncos and fielded the third-ranked scoring unit in the NFL in 2024. Denver also ranked first in the NFL with 63 sacks, which was nine more than the next closest team.
Sean Payton is probably wanting Joseph to get another head coaching chance, but that could end up hurting the Broncos for the long-term if they aren't able to adequately replace Joseph. The favorite to takeover as the DC in Denver if Joseph were to leave would be Jim Leonhard.
Selfishly, I think a majority of Broncos fans would want Joseph to somehow not get a head coaching job in 2026 so he returns to the team for a fourth year as the defensive coordinator. There could be a ton of untapped potential for the defense with Joseph in charge.