What New Orleans brought to the Broncos head coach

For the first time since January 2, 2022, Sean Payton will be on the sidelines of Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. The Denver Broncos coach returns to where he spent 15 seasons as head coach and the all-time winningest coach in Saints franchise history on ‘Thursday Night Football’ this week.

Payton retired as Saints head coach in January 2022, but he left the door open for a return to the NFL.

“I don’t like the word ‘retirement,’” he said during his retirement news conference. “I always have a vision for doing things in football. And to be honest with you, it might come up again at some point.

A year later, he returned to the NFL with the Broncos. Here’s why Denver had to compensate New Orleans to get Payton — and what exactly they gave up.

What did the Saints get in the Sean Payton trade?

In order to obtain Payton, the Broncos made the following trade with New Orleans:

• New Orleans received: 2023 first-round pick, 2024 second-round pick.
• The Denver Broncos received: Payton, 2024 third-round pick.

Payton became one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL after signing a contract with Denver. He would earn around $18 million per season on a five-year contract.

Why did the Broncos have to trade for Sean Payton?

Denver had to trade for Payton before the 2023 NFL season because he was still under contract with New Orleans. The Saints and Payton agreed to a five-year extension before the 2019 NFL season and, despite his retirement, New Orleans still held his coaching rights.

Sean Payton trade: draft picks

The Saints retained the first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and used it to select defensive tackle Bryan Bresee at No. 29 overall.

New Orleans packaged the second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to advance to the second round in a deal with Green Bay. They ended up selecting cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry 41st overall.

Denver traded the third-round pick it received in the deal to move up in the 2023 NFL Draft and select Iowa cornerback Riley Moss.

NFL head coaching jobs

Payton became the eighth head coach in NFL history to be traded for draft picks. The other seven were:

• 1970 : The Baltimore Colts signed Don Shula from the Miami Dolphins and were forced by commissioner Pete Rozelle to give their first round pick in the 1971 NFL Draft to Miami.
• 1997 : The New England Patriots trade Bill Parcells to the New York Jets for a third and fourth round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, a second round pick in the 1998 NFL Draft and a first round pick round in the 1999 NFL Draft.
• 1999 : The Green Bay Packers trade Mike Holmgren to the Seattle Seahawks for a second-round pick in the 1999 NFL Draft.
• 2000 : The Jets trade Bill Belichick to the Patriots in the following deal:
  • New York received the Patriots’ first-round pick in the 2000 NFL Draft as well as their fourth- and seventh-round picks in the 2001 NFL Draft.
  • New England received Belichick and the Jets’ fifth-round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft and their seventh-round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft.
• 2002 : The Oakland Raiders trade Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay for the Buccaneers’ first and second round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, their first round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft and their second round pick during the 2004 NFL Draft.
• 2006 : The Jets trade Herm Edwards to the Kansas City Chiefs for a fourth-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.
• 2019 : The Arizona Cardinals trade a seventh-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and Bruce Arians to the Buccaneers for a sixth-round pick.

Payton spent 15 seasons as head coach of the New Orleans Saints (2009-11, 2013-21). This is how he behaved at that time:

• Regular season results: 152-89
• Playoff record: 9-8
• Super Bowl Champion (XLIV)

With Denver’s win over the Jets in Week 6, Payton moved into 20th all-time in wins. He is currently one win behind Baltimore’s John Harbaugh.