As NFL teams continue to purge their coaching staff on Black Monday, a few Denver Broncos coaches are hot names around the league. Interestingly enough, Sean Payton's former team, the New Orleans Saints, are set to interview current Broncos' senior personnel analyst David Shaw for their head coaching vacancy, per NFL Network.
Shaw, who joined the Broncos in the middle of rookie camp in June, most recently interviewed for the Broncos' vacancy in 2023, and has been with the Broncos since mid-year.
Saints may be looking to poach David Shaw from Denver Broncos
Shaw, 52, is best known for his time at Stanford, in which he led the Cardinals to three Pac-12 titles before stepping down after the 2022 season. Shaw has worked with Payton before, as the two were both on the 1997 Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff, where Payton was a quarterbacks coach and Shaw was the offensive quality control coach, a staff that featured the likes of Payton, Shaw, Bill Callahan, Jon Gruden, and Juan Castillo all under head coach Ray Rhodes.
Shaw has been with the Broncos a brief time, but his departure could be felt heavily. The Broncos offense is headed by a group of senior and veteran coaches, including the likes of Joe Lombardi and Pete Carmichael, in addition to Shaw and Payton. There is no doubt that the veteran presence of the Broncos' offensive staff has been felt, and it definitely has been a boost to some younger offensive coaches in key positions, such as quarterbacks coach Davis Webb and offensive line coach Zach Strief.
If Shaw departed from Denver to become the head coach of the Saints, the Broncos would unfortunately not receive a pair of third-round picks under the NFL's rule that rewards teams for developing personnel that become head coaches or general managers for other franchises. The reason being that Shaw has only worked in Denver for a year, and the league mandates that minority candidates who qualify teams for this bonus work in the organization for two.
A pair of thirds would do wonders for a Broncos team that could benefit from staying younger, as it has been an incredible tool for them this year. However, it's possible that the Broncos would be compensated if Vance Joseph were to leave for another organization as a head coach.