3 reasons the Broncos did not make a mistake trading for Sean Payton

2. You can trust Sean Payton with quarterbacks

There are few NFL head coaches with as diverse a portfolio at the quarterback position who have also had a lot of success with just about every guy.

Of course, the primary QB for Sean Payton's time with the New Orleans Saints was Drew Brees. That seems to be another weird area where people don't want to give Payton his due credit. Everyone seems to think that Payton was carried by Brees' greatness for their time together in New Orleans, and they will point to the fact that the Saints' offense sort of tanked after Brees retired.

Let's get one thing straight -- Brees was a bit of an outcast when the Saints initially acquired him. He was a risk. He was unwanted by the Chargers for a handful of years. He played one playoff game in five years with the Chargers, who had one of the most exciting groups of offensive skill players in the league. It wasn't like Brees was some hack at the time, but he was certainly not the Drew Brees many people know today. Nobody knew how his story would play out back then.

He and Sean Payton just worked great together for many years, and they were able to put together some of the best offenses in the NFL in some very unique ways. The Saints have had dominant rushing attacks and dominant passing attacks. They built the offense around Brees for many years, but Payton also built an offense for someone like Teddy Bridgewater to come in and have tremendous success. Bridgewater didn't lose a single game he started in the 2019 season in relief of Brees and parlayed it into a $63 million deal from the Panthers in 2020.

What about Taysom Hill? The Taysom Hill offense in New Orleans has been poked fun at, to be sure, but the Saints also only lost two of the nine games Hill started from 2020-21.

What about the torrid pace Jameis Winston was on after he was asked to walk the plank in Tampa Bay? Winston went from throwing 30 interceptions for Bruce Arians to being on pace for 50 touchdowns in the 2021 season when his TD percentage skyrocketed to 8.7 percent and his INT percentage dipped all the way down to 1.9 percent, the lowest of his NFL career.

That is what Payton can bring to the table in terms of being able to trust him with the QB position. He has worked so well with so many different shapes, sizes, and ability levels of players.