The Denver Broncos have lost a couple of pieces of their coaching staff/front office already in 2025, and the poaching from other teams may not be done yet. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, it sounds like Broncos offensive pass game coordinator John Morton could soon be heading (back) to the Detroit Lions as their offensive coordinator.
He would be replacing Ben Johnson, the new head coach of the Chicago Bears. Of course, Johnson just recently poached Broncos tight ends coach Declan Doyle, tabbing him as his new offensive coordinator there with the Bears.
"I would expect John Morton to be the offensive coordinator in Detroit" ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/wCEeWpUbuk
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 27, 2025
Detroit Lions expected to tab Broncos PGC John Morton as new OC
Detroit Lions fans should actually still be relatively familiar with Morton, who was with the team as a senior offensive assistant as recently as 2022. The Broncos have had Morton as a key member of their offensive brain trust with head coach Sean Payton, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, and senior offensive assistant Pete Carmichael.
"Johnnie Mo" has been a longtime assistant coach for a number of big-name head coaches throughout the years both at the collegiate and pro level. Names like Norv Turner, Jim Harbaugh, (obviously) Sean Payton, Jon Gruden, and Pete Carroll.
This will be the first time Morton has called plays since 2017 when he was on Todd Bowles's staff with the New York Jets. He's obviously very qualified in terms of his years of experience, but these are some huge shoes to fill given how absolutely dominant Ben Johnson's offenses have been over the last handful of years with the Detroit Lions.
Considering that Morton has already had some experience with this Detroit Lions staff and roster, the transition here makes some sense. He's been around the Ben Johnson offense and most of the personnel in Detroit. And frankly, how can you screw this job up? The Lions have a plethora of talented skill players and this might be the greatest gift of Morton's NFL coaching career.
If you're a Detroit Lions fan reading this and you're wondering about which players Morton might be able to bring with him from Denver to Detroit, the list isn't very long at all. The most prominent free agent the Broncos have offensively is running back Javonte Williams there, and the Lions don't exactly have much of a need at running back.
Perhaps backup QB Jarrett Stidham would be a fit to come to Detroit now that Morton is there, but beyond that, there's really not much at all.