Veteran Sports Media Personality Gives Sean Payton and Bo Nix Their Flowers

While the Denver Broncos are playing in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions, their situation continuously improved under head coach Sean Payton. The Broncos turned from losers to contenders despite their massive dead cap from Russell Wilson’s contract extension.

Esteemed sports media personality Colin Cowherd commended this makeover during the July 2 episode of his eponymous podcast. Cowherd shared with former National Football League scout John Middlekauf, “Are we undervaluing, because of the glare with everybody else, what he’s done in Denver?”

Cowherd elaborated on the glare Denver is dealing with in the AFC West because of a coach who commands the spotlight (Jim Harbaugh), another coach who turned his team into a dynasty (Andy Reid), and a new coach who, like Payton, has won a Super Bowl (Pete Carroll).

To strengthen his case, Cowherd established the Broncos’ situation before Sean Payton took over by saying, “He goes into an organization and the culture is broken. The quarterback’s a mess, and there’s impending new ownership. He goes in the first year. I think they won three more games. He makes Russ functional. He cleans up the offensive line from 21st to 7th.”

Individually, Pro Football Focus ranked Garett Bolles as the 11th-best offensive tackle and Quinn Meinerz the third-best guard in the league.

Cowherd added, “I don’t think he’s quite getting enough credit for what he’s done in Denver.” However, Sean Payton and the Broncos can attract more attention if they dominate a regular-season schedule that is ranked 14^th by Sharp Football Analysis.

Sean Payton Receives a Monumental Boost in the PFF Coaching Rankings

Before the 2024 season, PFF didn’t even include the Super Bowl 44-winning coach among their top ten returning mentors. However, after leading the Broncos to end their postseason drought, PFF ranked him as the second-best coach entering the 2025 NFL season.

In addition to Sean Payton’s coaching genius, working with Bo Nix helped the Broncos turn the tide. As PFF’s Dalton Wasserman wrote, “Payton and Nix turned out to be a match made in heaven, giving Broncos fans a vision of Payton renewing the success he cultivated for so long in New Orleans. Denver’s defense was still strong last season, and Nix’s excellent 1.8% turnover-worthy play rate perfectly represented a team that didn’t beat itself.”

What’s fascinating is that, despite having a quarterback with little NFL experience, Denver lost only two games by more than one score. If expectations go according to plan, the additions of Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga could impart more fight to Denver in every game.

Middlekauf Predicts How Payton Will Get Another Contract Extension with Broncos

Payton has a five-year, $90 million contract with the Broncos that will run until the end of the 2027 NFL season. However, Middlekauf believes that the three-time Super Bowl champions won’t wait until the final year before giving Sean Payton an extension, especially if he satisfies one condition.

“They are a 12, 13-win season away from getting a huge contract extension,” Middlekauf said. The Broncos are on the right track, given that they’ve had their first double-digit win season since winning Super Bowl 50.

Likewise, the Broncos’ 2024 standing is Payton’s tenth season with ten or more victories.