Jeff Duncan: Sean Payton says he sees a lot of New Orleans in Denver job. ‘It matters there.’

Sean Payton sees a lot of New Orleans in the Denver Broncos.

“It’s a great football city like we had in New Orleans,” Payton said Tuesday from his home in Los Angeles, less than an hour after news broke that he would be the next head coach of the Denver Broncos. “It matters there. The fans are passionate about the team.”

As head coach-franchise fits go, this one couldn’t have been much better. The Broncos new ownership group was looking for a proven head coach with CEO-type qualities to be the franchise’s next leader. Payton was seeking a club with a track record of success and a strong ownership group.

“This was the opportunity I was looking for,” Payton said. 

The Broncos’ hiring of Payton comes a year and six days after he stepped down as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints after a highly successful 16-year tenure. After a year in the broadcast studio as an NFL analyst for Fox Sports, Payton is excited to return to the sideline for a franchise that’s won three Super Bowls and 15 division titles.

“It’s a great fanbase and great tradition,” Payton said. “The ownership group is fantastic, and I love the way they competed in some of their games last year.”

The two-week process was a long one that took several twists and turns, but Payton said he was heavily involved from the outset. Broncos owners Greg Penner and Condoleezza Rice, and general manager George Paton met with him on Jan. 17, the first day he was available to formally interview with teams. Broncos officials stayed involved throughout the search process.

He conducted a Zoom interview over the weekend with Carrie Walton Penner and her father, Rob Walton, the Broncos’ majority owner.

Paton and Saints general manager Mickey Loomis then spent the past three days negotiating the compensation package required in the trade for Payton, who remained under contract in New Orleans through 2024.

They finally arrived at a deal Tuesday: The Saints receive a first-round pick in this year’s draft, the 29th overall, and a second-round pick in the 2024 draft in return for the rights to Payton and the Saints’ 2024 third-round draft pick.

“George and Mickey were great,” Payton said. “It took a minute, but they worked through it hard and got a deal done.”

Payton said he talked to Loomis on Monday night as the deal neared completion. He said he purposefully stayed out of the talks to avoid a conflict of interest.

Among the four teams that expressed interest in Payton, he also interviewed with the Arizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers, one of the Saints’ longtime NFC South rivals.

“It works out great in Denver because we’re in the AFC,” said Payton, raising the possibility of conducting joint practices against the Saints in the future.

In Payton, the Broncos are getting a proven winner. He guided the Saints to 10 winning seasons and seven NFC South Division titles in his 15 seasons as head coach. In 2009, he led the Saints to the Super Bowl XLIV title, the club’s lone league championship.

Payton said he was impressed by all of the teams he met with during the interview process but connected with the Broncos from the outset. His initial interview with Broncos officials lasted more than six hours.

“I tried to put ownership at the top from the beginning, and I was impressed with how much they want to be successful,” Payton said of the Walton-Penner ownership group in Denver. “We had great support in New Orleans. I can’t recall Mr. or Mrs. B (Tom and Gayle Benson) ever saying no to something.”

In Denver, Payton will team with veteran quarterback Russell Wilson to try to reverse the fortunes of a club that has suffered six consecutive losing seasons and gone through three different head coaches since 2015.

Wilson, an 11-year veteran with nine Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl title on his resume, called Payton during the interview process to offer his support for his candidacy. Wilson suffered the worst season of his career in his debut campaign in Denver, throwing for 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a career-low 84.4 passer efficiency rating.

“Russell is a hard worker and has played at a high level and won a lot of games in this league,” Payton said. “The pressure is on us to put a good run game together and reduce the degree of difficulty on his position. I’m excited about him.”

Payton is also excited about the challenge of competing in the AFC West Division, where twice a year he and the Broncos will face two of the league’s premier quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers.

“Shoot, that’s what it’s all about,” Payton said. “That’s what gets the juices going again.”

Knowing how Payton operates, it won’t take long for the Broncos to become a factor in the division. The Broncos got the star head coach they needed, and the AFC West just got exponentially more interesting.