Tuesday afternoon, the Denver Broncos made a big move within their coaching staff. Head coach Sean Payton opted to fire offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi after three seasons in his position, leaving another intriguing opening in this year's coaching carousel.
Now, many would be led to believe that the Broncos' move to fire Lombardi signals an in-house promotion for Denver's offensive pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Davis Webb.
The former third-round pick back in 2017 has already climbed the coaching ranks and is receiving heavy interest from other teams currently holding various vacancies. But, a new report suggests that Payton was going to let Lombardi loose no matter what happened with Webb.
Per the Denver Post's Parker Gabriel:
"Sean Payton was going to make this move and fire Joe Lombardi regardless of interest in QB coach Davis Webb, per source."
At first glance, that's a little hard to believe, especially if Webb winds up being promoted. But, it isn't hard to see why Lombardi was going to be fired in the end.
Sean Payton was going to fire Joe Lombardi no matter what happened with Davis Webb
The Broncos won six games, this past season, while scoring 20 points or less. This Broncos team also finished just 16th in the league in rushing and, for a Sean Payton offense, that's not good enough. It's not good enough for a team that's also trying to put a young quarterback in the best position to succeed.
The fact is, though, no one said much of anything in the moment. The team was winning games.
But the reality was, this Denver defense was shutting opponents down for a good chunk of their victories. Their inconsistencies on offense were masked by a strong defensive unit on most afternoons.
It may have gone unnoticed to the average fan, but Payton noticed. Oh, Payton noticed.
Now, the other side of this is the idea that Webb was going to get hired elsewhere and the Broncos very well could have wanted to prevent that from happening. But, this new report closes the book on that notion.
Payton was reportedly going to fire Lombardi no matter what. Could this now lead to Payton giving up play calling in the near future? It sure feels that way, especially if Webb winds up sticking around and receiving a promotion.
In that same tone, Payton could retain play calling, especially if Webb is hired elsewhere. That would even further cement this report, to be quite frank. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is -- if this report is, indeed, true. Payton fires Lombardi. Webb gets hired elsewhere. Payton retains play calling duties.
All of that is still merely speculation until other decisions are made, though.
What we know now, beyond anything speculative, is that Lombardi was on his last leg in Denver for a while. Payton made the move. He was going to make the move regardless of other teams' interest in Webb.