Observations from Broncos’ Sean Payton at NFL coaches meeting

PHOENIX – Broncos head coach Sean Payton held court for about 30 minutes Monday morning at the AFC coaches’ breakfast to kick off the second day of the league’s spring ownership meetings here.

Payton, now almost two months into the jsob, touched on several areas of his roster, reiterated the franchise’s disinterest in trading receivers Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy and explained why he thought the signing of No. 2 quarterback Jarrett Stidham was “quietly” a priority.

Here are four quick observations from Payton’s time with reporters.

Payton likes his WRs. The head coach reiterated Monday that he doesn’t see Denver dealing from its wide receiver depth at the moment but said “a number of teams have called” the Broncos about Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton.

“It’s not a deep draft class,” Payton said of the group of receivers coming out in April’s NFL Draft. He also noted that he had a difficult time putting an exact read on how good the Broncos’ crop of receivers is because injuries have been so prevalent that the top group hasn’t played together much.

“We’re not a team that’s going to be ‘This is the X, this is the Z’ and this is our sub-slot receiver,’” Payton said. “If you followed what we did in New Orleans, that was never us.”

Analysis: Payton also acknowledged that Sutton and Juedy’s names will likely continue to come up in trade conversations between now and the draft. If someone caves and wants to give up premium draft capital, the Broncos could still deal. But Denver doesn’t intend on giving productive players away.

Jarrett Stidham was “a priority.” The Broncos locked up Jarrett Stidham as their No. 2 quarterback on the first day of free agency and Payton said the franchise felt an urgency to do so.

“He’s young, but he’s somebody we had a good grade on coming out (of college),” Payton said. “We like the player. … In this case, I think it’s a No. 2 that his arrow is moving in a direction where he can become an NFL starter in our league. The evaluation was pretty crystal clear for all of us.”

More from Payton on the former Baylor and Auburn quarterback: “Can (a No. 2) come in and play and start? Yes. I think you get that with Jarrett but I also think you get a player who’s still ascending. If you watch the 49ers game, that’s impressive against a good defense. He was a priority for us. Quietly. And fortunately, it worked out for us.”

Payton also made it clear that Las Vegas had “a clear vision and intention” to keep Stidham after he started two games to close the year.

Analysis: Among the coach’s more interesting comments Monday. Ideally, Denver doesn’t have to move to a backup quarterback due to injury or performance issues with starter Russell Wilson. But Payton clearly thinks highly of Stidham and said he watched his late-season work closely, making sure to highlight that he thinks Stidham is “smart at the line of scrimmage.” The Broncos valued him enough to wrestle him away from the Raiders with up to $10 million over the next two years. It’s not a quarterback competition, but it’s an eyebrow-raiser.

Cushenberry’s the center. Payton confirmed that he and the Broncos see fourth-year player Lloyd Cushenberry as the team’s starting center.

The head coach said he thinks Cushenberry will “benefit” from having free agent signings like Mike McGlinchey at right tackle and Ben Powers on his left to go along with Quinn Meinerz on his right side.

Analysis: That’s not entirely unexpected news, though with a new coaching staff it’s always possible a shakeup could have occurred. As it is, Cushenberry’s status as the likely starter makes the starting five pretty clear: Bolles, Powers, Cushenberry, Meinerz and McGlinchey. The depth then includes players like new signing Kyle Fuller, tackle Isaiah Prince and returners like Quinn Bailey and Luke Wattenberg.

Quote of the day. Payton was asked how he evaluates the importance of having a strong run game. His response: “I’m in favor of it.”

Actually, there’s another candidate for quote of the day. Payton was wrapping up an answer about the good things Denver did defensively in 2022 and said, “It sounds like I’m being critical of the special teams and the offense. And I am.”

Analysis: Free agency showed that clearly, given the Broncos so far have signed three offensive linemen, a tight end, a fullback and running backs Samaje Perine and Tony Jones Jr. among its big group of players. Payton wasn’t about to lay out the first pages of his playbook before he ever gets the players in the building – that will happen in mid-April – but it’s clear he’s planning to build an offense around the running game.

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