Denver Broncos Reach Deal With New Orleans Saints For Sean Payton
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos agreed Tuesday to a trade with the New Orleans Saints to make Sean Payton the 19th head coach in franchise history, sources told ESPN.
The Saints will receive the Broncos' 2023 first-round pick (No. 29 overall) and 2024 second-round pick for Payton and the Saints' 2024 third-round selection, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The Broncos are also expected to make Payton one of the highest-paid head coaches in the league.
"This was the opportunity I was looking for," Payton told NOLA.com on Tuesday.
Because Payton had signed an extension with the Saints in 2019 that was set to run through the 2024 season, the Saints and the Broncos had to negotiate compensation for Denver to sign him as its head coach.
The Broncos had traded their first-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in last year's blockbuster deal to acquire Russell Wilson but then acquired a first-round pick from the Dolphins in the trade that sent Bradley Chubb to Miami in November. That pick originally belonged to the San Francisco 49ers, who then sent it to Miami in the trade that allowed them to pick Trey Lance in the 2021 draft.
The Saints will get back into the first round of the 2023 draft after going into the offseason without a Day 1 pick. They sent their 2023 first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles last year as part of a predraft trade that allowed them to select offensive tackle Trevor Penning.
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