With the NFL trade deadline now just over 24 hours away, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton has downplayed the impact it has had on his schedule.
“The next 24 hours for me will be just like last Monday, or the following Monday or the Monday prior,” Payton said during his Monday conference call with reporters. “It’s going to be putting to bed the game we just played and then the preparation begins on Kansas City.
“In the meantime, George [Paton] and his staff — there’s always these last-minute calls either way. [He will] keep me abreast. He’ll walk in here if he thinks it’s something significant, but honestly the focus is on the guys in this building right here. Superman’s not walking in.”
Paton will work the phones while Payton remains focused on preparing for the Chiefs on Sunday. Fans would love to see the Broncos make splashes ahead of the trade deadline, with even Payton’s brother, Tom, urging the team to make moves.
“My brother’s the worst at this,” Payton said. “He’s the worst at free agency, and he’s the worst at the trade deadline. He just wants to see action. Then right after the action takes place, he never goes back and reflects and says, ‘Well that was a bad signing,’ or, ‘That was a bad trade.’ I say that — I kid him — but I think that there’s so much more that goes into it relative to whether you’re trading a player [or] acquiring a player.
“Contracts go into it, vision goes into it and locker room goes into it. There are a lot of details that go into that. To answer your question fairly, I’m sitting here with the numbers right now with Kansas City, the depth chart, injury report and scouting report. [I] kind of finished up on Baltimore. Our players are in meetings on Baltimore. That’s where we’re at.”
With a young team, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Broncos stand pat at the deadline. Denver is not one piece away from contending, and as Payton said, Superman’s not walking through the door. It might make sense for the Broncos to keep their draft picks and continue developing the current roster while looking forward to adding more talent in 2025.
