The Denver Broncos definitely have one of the best head coaches in the entire NFL in Sean Payton, a likely future Hall of Fame coach who is a Super Bowl champion and one of the best offensive minds in an era of football dominated by offense. Payton is a living legend among NFL head coaches, which is why it's shocking that he graded so low in the NFLPA's latest team report cards, which cover everything from the head coach of the team to the way teams take care of their families.
Payton was given a "B" grade, which ranked 26th out of 32 head coaches in the NFL.
Yikes.
It could obviously be worse, but there were a couple of reasons given as to why Payton graded as a "B" and why that ended up being so low on the overall list.
Broncos HC Sean Payton ranks 26th among NFL head coaches in latest player rankings
- 80% of Broncos players feel their head coach Sean Payton is efficient with their time, a rank of 27 out of 32.
- The players feel that Payton is moderately receptive to locker room feedback on the team’s needs, ranking him 29 of 32 head coaches in the league.
There were six NFL head coaches who received unanimous 100 percent grades of being efficient with the players' time. This was a pretty significant knock on Payton considering 20 percent of Broncos players feel like he's not efficient with their time.
Payton is also considered only "moderately receptive" to feedback on the team's needs, which was a huge knock against him as well. That category, however, is extremely vague and would require some additional context, perhaps. What kind of needs are we talking about? Personal? Are we talking about playing wanting stake in the game as it relates to playing time?
Whatever the case, it seems like Payton doesn't grade favorably compared to other NFL head coaches when it comes to receiving feedback on the team's needs.
Payton is no stranger to not being unanimously liked, but this kind of feedback can be extremely valuable for him. What's interesting is that Payton's grade is actually down from an "A-" a season ago. Payton inherited a Denver Broncos roster that was not exactly built by him in 2023, and after doing more tinkering to the roster in 2024, the grades came back less favorable.
You would think with a more hand-selected roster that Payton's approval rating would have improved, but that wasn't the case.
Overall, there's not much to read into with this other than the fact that Payton could potentially be more receptive to the team's needs, whatever those may be, with his players. It seems like ownership is very pleased with the culture Payton is creating and the results are obviously there. The Broncos improved from five wins to eight wins in Payton's first year with the franchise and they won 10 games last year while ending an 8-year playoff drought.
The impact that he's made is obvious. He won't always be the most well-liked, but it would be interesting to see what he would say in response to these grades, if anything.