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

3. Draft picks mean nothing if you don't have the right captain of the ship

The Denver Broncos could be absolutely loaded with draft picks and still not have a definitive direction as a team. You need the right captain to steer the ship where it needs to go. Ever since Gary Kubiak stepped down due to health reasons, the Broncos have really lacked that true captain of the ship.

Sean Payton is going to be the one to get this team going the right direction. People talk about changing "culture" all the time, but there are few great leaders who can actually make that happen. Especially in a business like the NFL where change is truly the only constant, someone like Sean Payton is an equalizer against those constant forces of change.

So many Broncos fans were worried, for instance, about the team losing Dre'Mont Jones in free agency. That is a big loss for the team in terms of a talented player who came up through the organization, played well, and earned a big-money contract. To not see him retained felt detrimental to many. I won't attempt to diminish the loss of a player like Dre'Mont Jones, but the presence of a head coach like Sean Payton can help you be a bit more unflappable in those kinds of situations.

Why? Because Payton has proven, time and time again, that he can make things work with the players he's given. And more than just make them work. He had the Saints in contention for nearly two straight decades. There were very few years in which that team was not a legitimate threat in the NFC.

What is the use of a first-round draft pick -- specifically the 29th overall pick -- if you don't have the right coach? It's worth it to pay that outrageous price -- draft picks, money, or otherwise -- if you know that what you're getting is one of the best and most proven head coaches in modern football history.

Sean Payton is that.

If anything, it feels like this move is being vastly underrated right now by the masses, including many in Broncos Country. The gravity of having a Sean Payton in the head coach's chair simply doesn't suck you in the same as Peyton Manning donning the jersey and helmet. It isn't quite the same just yet as having John Elway in the GM chair. But that's what being so good you're almost boring can do for you.

People tend to focus on things without context, like the bounty scandal in New Orleans, Payton being suspended for a year, and this ridiculous assumption that he 'quit' on the Saints after working 15 years with the team. At any rate, I think the Broncos made the correct choice here even if it would have been just as exciting to see Jim Harbaugh come to Denver. Payton is the most accomplished NFL head coach they could have possibly gotten, a rare chance to add a living legend in that arena.