Getty Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos.
The Denver Broncos are on the hook for head coach Sean Payton’s costly decision.
Payton was clear after the Broncos’ season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks that the supporting cast needed to step up around rookie quarterback Bo Nix.
Nix was the victim of 2 drops from his receivers. But he was also under duress, absorbing 2 sacks behind the Broncos’ offensive line, which also allowed the most pressures in the league in Week 1, per The 33rd Team.
“The offensive line Sean Payton has built is beginning to look like a money pit. Way too much money has been thrown in the trenches for Denver to be so thoroughly unremarkable at blocking the run or protecting the quarterback,” The Denver Gazette’s Mark Kizla wrote on September 11. “I call it Sean’s $164 Million Folly.”
The offensive line — where the Broncos have doled out three huge contracts in Sean Payton’s 17+ months as head coach — is the most important position group on the team, he says.
“I think it permeates your building, & I believe that. And it’s served us well everywhere I’ve been.”
“Here’s what should make Payton anxious and keep him awake nights, burning the midnight incense in his office at Broncos headquarters,” Kizla wrote. “If you believe a football team is built from the ground up, and this Denver offensive line really does stink, Nix will feel the earth quake beneath his feet, and his future as the long-term answer at quarterback is already on shaky ground.”
Broncos OL Cashed In Under Sean Payton
GettyDenver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
Four of the Broncos’ five starting offensive linemen have $164 million in combined guaranteed money in their contracts.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey has $52.5 million in practical guaranteed money, per Spotrac. He is on a five-year, $87.5 million contract. Right guard Quinn Meinerz has $45 million in practical guarantees and signed a four-year, $72 million extension during the 2024 offseason.
Left guard Ben Powers is on a four-year, $51.5 million with $28.5 million in practical guarantees.
Powers and McGlinchey signed new deals in 2023 after Payton was hired. Starting center Luke Wattenberg has $287,720 in total guarantees in Year 3 of a four-year, $3.9 million deal.
Kizla noted that left tackle Garett Bolles is the work of former general manager John Elway. Still, Bolles is on the books in the final year of a four-year, $68 million contract. His deal included $38 million in practical guarantees.
Payton, Kizla wrote, “doesn’t seem to have a clue” about how to maximize the pricey group.
The Broncos’ offensive line ranks 13th in 2024 spending, per Over The Cap. That is a middling ranking, which would fit the results.
Broncos OL ‘Average at Best’
GettyDenver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
Pro Football Focus ranked the Broncos as the fourth-best run-blocking group and fifth-best pass-blocking unit in 2023. Despite their rank, Kizla wrote, the Broncos’ offensive line is “average at best.”
“While McGlinchey, Powers and Meinerz are all touted as road graders, the Broncos ranked a mediocre 18th of 32 NFL teams a year ago with 106.5 rushing yards per game and ranked a ho-hum 21st at 4.0 yards per carry,” Kizla wrote. “During the season-opener loss against Seattle, when Denver averaged an inch under 4 yards on 25 carries, making it appear as if little was learned or improved by work in training camp.
The Broncos tied for the seventh-most rushing yards before contact in 2023, per Pro Football Reference.
They also had the fifth-highest pressure rate.
Payton and the Broncos cannot pivot easily. Bolles is in the final year of his contract. And the Broncos can upgrade at center with Wattenberg a free agent in 2025. Powers is next in 2026 with McGlinchey (2027) and Meinerz (2028) to follow.
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Broncos HC Sean Payton Called Out for ‘$164 Million Folly’ With Roster