Denver, CO
Sean Payton’s New Orleans-to-Denver pipeline could involve a QB in this spring’s draft, too
MOBILE, Ala. — Sean Payton’s spent this week continuing to turn Denver into something resembling New Orleans West.
The Broncos made moves this week to hire two long-time Saints in former offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and longtime scout Cody Rager.
They join a host of others, from offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi to linebackers coach Joe Vitt to offensive line coach Zach Strief and tight ends coach Declan Doyle to several players on the roster who have ties to the Bayou.
That’s not particularly surprising considering Payton coached there from 2006 to ’21, of course, but it’s notable the additions have barely slowed after the coach’s first year in Denver.
An interesting potential wrinkle: What if Denver decided to make a run at developing a quarterback from New Orleans, too?
That would be Tulane’s Michael Pratt, a Senior Bowl participant who entered the week projected by most as perhaps a Day 2 or early Day 3 pick in April’s draft.
Pratt’s been steady during the first two practices of the week, makes mostly clean, quick decisions, and said he’s learning a lot.
“The coolest thing is just to be out here with this level of competition, the caliber of guys that are out here and everybody’s got the same goal,” Pratt told The Post. “We’re out here, we’re trying to make each other better. We’re trying to get better and soak in as much of this knowledge and everything we can take out of this. That’s what’s really important.”
Pratt played in 46 games over four years starting at Tulane, threw for 9,611 yards and 90 touchdowns against 26 interceptions and improved his completion percentage each year in college, finishing at 65.3% as a senior this past fall.
Pratt’s showed a willingness to pull the ball down and run this week — quarterbacks don’t do much of that here overall — and in his career had 447 carries (2.6 per) and 28 touchdowns on the ground.
Mostly, though, he operates from the pocket and has the kind of tool kit Payton and company might be interested in if they don’t take a quarterback early in the draft.
“The biggest thing I’ve been working on is just getting my footwork right,” Pratt said. “Doing the little things that can increase my accuracy and just the little details that I’ve seen on film and wanted to work on the past couple of weeks and throughout training.
“That’s something that translates into what we’re doing out here.”
Players talk with virtually every team over the course of the Senior Bowl week and then again during the NFL Scouting Combine, so it’s not a surprise Pratt confirmed he’d spoken with the Broncos brass this week. He did say, though, that he’s already had more than one conversation with the organization, acknowledging, “a couple of interviews.”
“They’ve been awesome,” he told reporters Wednesday. “A lot of just background stuff, getting to know the person, support system, all that kind of stuff.”
One thing the Broncos and other teams can see just by looking at Pratt’s history: He helped lift a moribund Tulane program to new heights over his time there.
The Green Wave went 6-6 his first year starting and 2-10 in 2021. The past two seasons, though, the program went 23-5 overall (12-2 in 2022, 11-3 in 2023), a fact Pratt takes pride in.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in what the whole team did from the time I came in to the time I’m leaving it.”
Denver, CO
Minnesota Timberwolves vs Denver Nuggets Apr 20, 2026 Game Summary
Denver, CO
Colorado boasts two of the best coffee shops in the Americas, according to new ranking
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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Denver, CO
Denver beekeeper says swarm season came a month early this year thanks to warm weather
DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
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