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.
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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.
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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.”
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“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.”
The Denver Broncos’ run in the NFL Playoffs did not go as planned, but the season was still a success for rookie quarterback Bo Nix, who lived up to expectations as a first-round pick.
While the Broncos season ended on the wrong end of a blowout loss, the future is bright at Mile High.
One of the people who was front and center throughout Nix’s rookie campaign was his wife Izzy Nix, who cheered him on throughout the year and was his biggest support system.
MORE: Bo Nix’s wife Izzy celebrates rookie NFL season with artsy photo of Broncos QB
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Now that the season is over, Izzy is looking back and reflecting on some of the best moments from Bo’s first year in the league.
She shared the video recap of her rookie WAG season on TikTok.
Izzy Nix/TikTok
MORE: Bo Nix’s wife Izzy, Broncos WAGs & QBs enjoy matching pj party with hilarious socks
Izzy Nix/TikTok
MORE: Bo Nix’s wife Izzy swoons over Drake Maye, Ann Michael Hudson engagement pics
Izzy Nix/TikTok
MORE: Livvy Dunne drops epic photodump of rookie WAG season, Paul Skenes
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Izzy Nix/TikTok
What a year it was.
MORE: Bo Nix’s wife Izzy’s epic photo with Zach Wilson’s fiancée, Broncos WAGs after loss
Nix finished his rookie campaign with 3,775 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while adding 430 yards and four scores on the ground.
Izzy Nix/Instagram
Izzy and Bo met at Auburn University in the summer of 2020 when he was the team’s star quarterback and she was a cheerleader. The two have been inseparable since and were eventually married in the summer of 2022.
Now that the season is over, Bo and Izzy will get to enjoy some couples getaways to make up for the time they spent apart during the successful year.
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— Enjoy free dish of rich and fabulous players with The Athlete Lifestyle on SI —
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Denver Nuggets (24-16, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Miami Heat (20-19, ninth in the Eastern Conference)
Miami; Friday, 8 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Denver hits the road against Miami aiming to extend its four-game road winning streak.
The Heat are 10-7 in home games. Miami is ninth in the Eastern Conference with 15.1 fast break points per game led by Tyler Herro averaging 3.7.
The Nuggets are 12-8 in road games. Denver is 6-4 in one-possession games.
The Heat are shooting 45.5% from the field this season, 0.9 percentage points lower than the 46.4% the Nuggets allow to opponents. The Nuggets are shooting 50.0% from the field, 4.0% higher than the 46.0% the Heat’s opponents have shot this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Herro is averaging 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and five assists for the Heat.
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Russell Westbrook is scoring 13.2 points per game and averaging 5.1 rebounds for the Nuggets.
LAST 10 GAMES: Heat: 5-5, averaging 109.2 points, 44.0 rebounds, 27.5 assists, 8.0 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.9 points per game.
Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 119.7 points, 47.3 rebounds, 30.5 assists, 8.3 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.9 points.
INJURIES: Heat: Dru Smith: out for season (achilles), Josh Richardson: day to day (heel).
Nuggets: Aaron Gordon: day to day (calf), DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles), Nikola Jokic: day to day (elbow), Vlatko Cancar: out (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
It’s official, Denver is getting it’s next major park. CBS News Colorado reported this would come to fruition ahead of the now official announcement on Wednesday.
CBS
Over the past 7 years, the defunct Park Hill Golf Course has inspired turf wars between open space advocates and developers.
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Now, the 155-acre property is back in the hands of the city after Mayor Mike Johnston entered a land swap. The developer gets property to build out in Adams County, and the city gets to create a brand new regional park.
In a land swap deal with developers, the former Park Hill Golf course will become a city park, and residents who have been battling to make this a reality say it is a dream come true.
“I kind of can’t believe it,” said Amy Harris, a longtime advocate for the park and a member of Save Open Space Denver.
The park, which was once a golf course where even some of the best golfers like Tiger Woods had set foot in, will now be a space where residents can enjoy the open space.
For Denver resident Mike Fernandez, it will be a place where he will be able to continue to bird watch.
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“There were a few that I don’t see anywhere else, like songbirds,” Fernandez said. “I was really trying to keep track of that to see the impact if there were development here they would be gone.”
Fernandez says he has tracked 18 different bird species near and around the golf course.
The property is returning to the people after years of advocacy by leaders such as former Mayor Wellington Webb, organizations such as Save Open Space Denver and a number of community members.
“I mean, it’s the best-case scenario,” Harris said. “It’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning.”
The city looks to work with the community to jot down their long-term vision for the space and design plans for the near future.
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“I think the battle was really bringing folks to the table about the commitment to green spaces and understanding the impacts and the long-term to our climate to long term sustainability,” said Councilwoman Shontel Lewis of District 8.
It was all possible through an acre-for acre land exchange agreement, where Denver will trade undeveloped, industrial property near the airport for the Park Hill property — which is currently owned by Westside Investment Partners.
“There was an internal transfer of about $12.7 million within the city from parks and rec. to the airport that comes from the Park’s Legacy Fund for the acquisition,” Mayor Johnston explained. “The trade is made between Denver and the current owner for this site without any cash payment.”
In 2023, voters rejected a plan to develop the property with housing.
Johnston reassures Denverites the city will continue to work toward developing affordable housing nearby, while maintaining community jewels like this soon-to-be park.
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“We know there’s a housing shortage in Denver,” Johnston said. “We look to add more housing stock; we want to make sure that housing stock is affordable to people living in Denver right now.”
This historic deal in Denver now becomes the largest single city acquisition of private land for a public park.
“What we need to do today is celebrate that we maintain the Park Hill Golf Course in Denver for Denver,” Webb said.
Johnston now looks to work with Adams County commissioners and Denver City Council to approve the land exchange and begin the process. City officials say the new park is expected to be open to the public by this summer.
“I cant wait for the time where we can all gather together in the park when it’s really park and get to celebrate together,” Harris said.
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