Broncos' offseason has been incredibly strange

The offseason for the Denver Broncos continues to take strange turn after strange turn and it's becoming borderline ridiculous.

The Broncos fired Nathaniel Hackett during the 2022 season. Though that was the right move to make, the timing of it was a bit strange. The performance the team put forth against the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day certainly warranted Hackett's firing, but there were only two games left to play in the season.

The team then offered the interim coach position to defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero who turned that down due to his close friendship with Hackett.

Jerry Rosburg took over on an interim basis and actually did a great job. Then the coaching search started and depending on what you believe, the Broncos either had a "master plan" all along or the search for a new head coach was a total mess.

Jim Harbaugh was said to be the prime candidate but then he said he was going to stay at Michigan. The team interviewed Sean Payton followed by several underwhelming candidates before reports broke out that the team was trying to get Harbaugh again, flying down to Ann Arbor to meet with him.

The team then became linked to San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. There seems to be conflicting reports on how those two sides felt about one another but in the end, Ryans chose to coach the Houston Texans.

The Broncos ended up with Payton as their head coach and who knows, he might have been the best choice all along. But he certainly didn't seem to be the first choice.

Now, much of the same seems to be going on as the team puts together a full coaching staff, specifically with the defensive coordinator position. That is open because Evero, one of the few bright spots on the 2022 Broncos, made a lateral movement to become defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers.

There have been several names tossed around for the Broncos' new defensive coordinator job. Sean Desai and Kris Richard have been mentioned. And count me in if the team decides to go with Rex Ryan.

But now, the team plans to meet with former Broncos head coach Vance Joseph for that spot. What?

This would be the same Joseph who was one of the worst head coaches the league has seen until of course, Hackett came to Denver. He was a curious hire when the Broncos gave him that job based on what he had done to the league to that point. So what about what he's done since?

He has been the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals since the Broncos fired him following the 2018 season. This past year, the Cardinals ranked 19th in overall defense and they allowed 449 points to be scored. Only one team — the Chicago Bears — allowed more points to be scored this year. Where are the Bears positioned in the draft this spring? Right at the top, because they had the league's worst record.

So what, exactly, is this team doing? There can be only three options.

1. The team is doing its due diligence to find the "right" candidate.

2. The team is purposely trying to throw off reporters and "insiders" with its plans.

3. This organization is struggling in every single way to put together a staff to move forward into 2023.

Believe what you will, but I am easily taking option three.

If the team ends up with Joseph, an already failed head coach who is an average defensive coordinator at absolute best, then what does that say for this team? It can't possibly say that it chose the best guy out there because Joseph is not that. So then why even bring him in? To do your "due diligence"? Or is it because the choices that are out there are skeptical or have questions about what they would be coming into?

Sean Payton is a tried and true NFL head coach. Broncos Country got a good, no-nonsense guy who has won a ton of games and been to the top of the mountain in the league. But something must be said about all of the twists and turns this offseason has taken as it relates to this coaching staff as a whole.