Broncos courted DeMeco Ryans hard before settling on Sean Payton

It has been a wild Tuesday afternoon in the NFL, which saw two of the four head coaching vacancies in the league. The first to break, courtesy of ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, was of the Denver Broncos agreeing to trade for former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. And the other is the Houston Texans agreeing to a massive deal with former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans to become their next head coach.

While it might seem like these two transactions have nothing in common on the surface, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, there is more behind the scenes that, in fact, ties these two together. It turns out that the Broncos had their heart set on Ryans and made one final push for him late.

“Unbelievable: The Broncos spent today trying to hire DeMeco Ryans AGAIN today before he recommitted to the Texans, sources say. When he agreed to terms with the Texans, they moved and finalized Sean Payton,” said Rapoport via Twitter.

In the end, Ryans’ ties to the Texans and the considerable contract they gave him were more than enough for him to return to the franchise which drafted him in 2006. Still, don’t feel too bad for Payton. The new Broncos head coach likely will receive a huge contract as well.

So that’s how DeMeco Ryans reportedly landed with the Texans and not the Broncos.

Broncos make blockbuster trade for Sean Payton

With Payton still under contract until 2024, in order for him to receive a new coaching job he would have to be allowed to by the Saints — via some form of compensation package by the team that hires him. The Broncos reportedly had offered a couple of options to New Orleans to acquire Payton, and the Saints have chosen to receive a first-round and second-round draft pick in return for Payton and a third-round pick they own.

Immediately after the shocking news that the Broncos had pulled the trigger on a deal for the highly sought-after coach, ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed the two potential packages offered to New Orleans as compensation. The first option was Denver’s 2023 first-round pick and next year’s second-round pick for Payton and the Saints’ 2024 third. The second option was for Denver’s 2024 first round pick and the fourth-round pick from 2023, with no return pick from New Orleans.

Shortly afterward, Schefter explained that the Saints had chosen the first option and the teams were finalizing the deal.

On3’s Austin Brezina contributed to this article.