Sean Payton responds to predictions the Broncos will be among NFL's worst teams

The football prognosticators don't have particularly positive projections for the Denver Broncos in the 2024 season. Not that head coach Sean Payton would know.

Or care.

Payton went a little scorched earth around this time last year when he had a very candid interview with USA Today, but in the lead-up to his second training camp with the Denver Broncos, Payton is clearly a bit further removed from the media this time around.

There have been lists written that have the Broncos as the worst roster in the NFL. There have been predictions made of the Broncos picking 1st overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. There have been countless lists and power rankings depicting the Broncos among the worst teams in the league. You name it, and the Broncos have been at or near the bottom in almost every instance.

It doesn't seem like anyone has Payton's crew as a darkhorse playoff team in 2024.

Payton made his stance regarding these projections pretty clear.

"Look, if I spent time on that in 2006, we would have never gone to the NFC Championship Game. And I mean that seriously…I don’t have time to spend time on that. Nor do I wish to spend time on that…

None of that means anything. It’s stuff to talk about when the media cycle is quiet.

We’ll get ready to play. We expect to compete, we expect to win."

- Sean Payton (via Broncos PR)

It's important to keep in mind that, a year ago at this time, Payton was not all that far removed from working as a member of the media. He might have been a little more in tune with what they were saying about the Broncos at the time, and he felt the need before camp last year to come out and defend his players. Particularly Russell Wilson, who had been getting blasted for the better part of his first 18 months in Denver.

Now, Payton's stamp is even more clearly on the Denver Broncos' roster, and the general public doesn't seem to care for it. Payton has warned everyone all offseason not to pay too close of attention to the "NFL train" as he calls it, which is the general consensus driving opinions in certain directions.

Ultimately what he is saying, my read on it anyway, is that groupthink is a dangerous subscription service.

Payton has a young roster. He has a brand-new first-round quarterback in the mix. His team is getting set to take the field for training camp after the Kansas City Chiefs have cemented their spot in the AFC West throne. It appears to be a grueling climb back to prominence but the Broncos made tremendous progress under Payton last year.

Frankly, I would go so far as to say they exceeded expectations last year, jumping from five to eight wins in year one of Payton's reign.

Now, the expectation is that the Broncos will be lucky to win five games. Again, Payton doesn't care about that. As he said, "none of that means anything" and he's right. It's easy to be confident before the games are played and smash the "over" on the Broncos' projected 5.5 win total, but it's another thing for this young team to actually go out there and prove they can do it.

It starts with stacking days at camp and Payton clearly set the tone at his pre-camp press conference.