The Denver Broncos organization has invested quite a bit into Sean Payton, and his leash with the team is truly longer than you can imagine. I have seen opinions here and there on social media that Payton's leash with the Broncos might not be that long depending on how 2024 goes, or that his seat can get warmer if 2024 isn't the type of year that ownership expects.
But frankly, the truth here is that Payton's leash with the Broncos is quite long, and it's not getting shorter anytime soon. You see, this ownership group has not only invested a ton of resources into getting Payton here, but they've also given him a ton of authority. It took a first and second-round pick to trade for Payton from the New Orleans Saints.
And not only that, Payton apparently makes $18 million per year, which looks to be the highest salary of all NFL head coaches. The investment in the head coach might not be something that the NFL has seen before, and to take it a step further, Payton also, from what we know, seems to have final say on the roster.
There are other HC/GM duos in the NFL where the head coach gets final say on the roster. With the amount of control that Payton has and the cost it took to get him, why wouldn't his leash be insanely long? Sean Payton has not yet gotten a chance to bring in "his guy" at QB, and there's also an argument on Payton's side to buy more time since George Paton might not be his ideal right-hand man, either.
We've seen Sean Payton bring in a slew of coaches, players, and front office members from his days in New Orleans, so he should have a strong argument to also get more time by potentially replacing Paton with a familiar face. And back to the QB for a second; if Payton does bring in a rookie QB this year, Payton would also get some time to develop the QB.
So no matter how you slice it, time is on Payton's side, and you have to think that the Denver Broncos ownership group, which had little to no involvement with the NFL before this, is firmly entrusting Sean Payton to fix this franchise. Sean Payton's leash with the Denver Broncos is just insanely long and is not getting shorter anytime soon.