Keeler: Broncos need Sean Payton. But not badly enough to cough up two first-round draft picks.

You recognize what they name an NFL basic supervisor who trades away two first-round picks for an previous Russell Wilson after which one other two first-rounders for an previous Sean Payton?

Unemployed.

The Broncos want Payton. They want his resume. His gravitas. His offense. His tradition. His excessive flooring. His Tremendous Bowl ceiling.

You recognize what they don’t want? One other fleecing by an NFC entrance workplace that smells desperation from 64 yards away.

They positive as heck don’t want the value tag reported early Wednesday night by longtime Saints insider Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com.

In his newest column, Duncan refutes the ray of hope Payton shoveled at FOX Sports activities’ Colin Cowherd this previous Monday, noting that New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis is after “compensation much like what the Oakland Raiders obtained from Tampa Bay in change for Jon Gruden in ’02, with two first-round picks being the place to begin.”

Dan Quinn, come on down!

Look, it’s all posturing, proper? Payton desires the softest touchdown zone and one other run at a hoop. Loomis and the Saints, who most likely cringe each time Payton yaps about himself on digital camera, are out for leverage and blood. Not essentially in that order.

With Jim Harbaugh — the following NFL group that will get a name from Captain Khakis ought to simply let it go straight to voicemail — pulling one other Harbaugh, most eyes in Broncos Nation this week turned to Payton, who reportedly interviewed with Denver possession on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

The timing of which turned much more intriguing after the coach-turned-FOX analyst advised Cowherd on MLK Day that the asking worth for his teaching rights, that are owned by the Saints by 2024, was “a mid-to-late first-round decide.”

That’s … it? Hey, the Broncos have a kind of! A really late one for the 2023 draft in decide No. 29, all due to the Bradley Chubb commerce.

A package deal to New Orleans that options the twenty ninth decide in ’23; plus a Day 2 decide or a number of Day 3 picks in ’24 or ’25; together with a clean examine in compensation? For brand spanking new Broncos CEO Greg Penner, that’s a no brainer.

If it’s the selection between a late first-rounder or an elite coach, there isn’t one. Sure, the Broncos (once more) want a proper deal with. Most likely a left one, too, now that you simply point out it. Though neither one is routinely a positive factor with decide No. 29, the place the final 10 choices in that slot have changed into a really blended, very bizarre, form of bag.

For each Cole Unusual (No. 29 to New England in ’22) and Eric Stokes (No. 29 to Inexperienced Bay in ’21), there’s an Isaiah Wilson (No. 29 to Tennessee in ’20), a Georgia product who was supposed to resolve proper deal with in Nashville for a decade. As an alternative, the large man obtained suspended, traded to Miami, lower by Miami, then put out a hip-hop EP underneath the stage title “GGBowser.”

Since 2013, the No. 29 decide within the draft’s averaged simply 4.2 begins per season. If this was merely a binary selection at UCHealth Coaching Middle between that decide or Payton, given the place this franchise must be, and hasn’t been for a really, very very long time, the coach looks as if the safer guess.

Payton’s obtained greater than his share of tough edges, granted. However he’s much more than Drew Brees’ teaching caddy.

From 2018-21, Payton posted a 5-1 regular-season mark with Teddy Bridgewater as his beginning QB. He went 7-2 with Taysom Hill behind middle. He was 5-2 with Jameis Winston.

Total, he put up a 17-12 file with the Saints with somebody apart from Brees as his starter — a fee of 58.6%, or the equal of a 10-7 file. Sooner or later, it’s the system, too.

Jim Caldwell would provide an analogous improve over Nathaniel Hackett’s buffoonery, though that final one’s an awfully low bar to clear. Quinn’s obtained that type of grown-up, Rosburgian vibe a dysfunctional, undisciplined locker room wants. However his presence additionally makes younger star Ejiro Evero redundant, whereas a lot of his success would depend upon his offensive coordinator — simply because it was underneath Vic Fangio, who let Pencil Pat Shurmur fortunately grind Drew Lock to mush.

With Payton, that offense is spoken for, which is why he’s so exhausting to go up. However to cough up two first-rounders after the trick Seattle simply pulled within the Wilson deal can be sheer lunacy on Penner’s half.

And profession suicide for Broncos GM George Paton, whose honeymoon with Broncos Nation is already over after buying and selling away Von Miller and Chubb whereas foisting the nightmare tag-team of Wilson and Hackett upon a fan base that’s suffered sufficient already.

If Payton desires a chew of the Broncos’ new NFL cash, it’s on him to get the Saints to budge off that second first-rounder. As a result of the extra Loomis talks, at this level, the richer Quinn will get.