After some early work on his defensive coordinator position, Sean Payton is moving on his OC pursuit. The first candidate, unsurprisingly, worked with the new Broncos HC in New Orleans.
The Broncos have set up an interview with Saints quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry, Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com notes. Curry, who coached with Payton from 2016-21, is also in consideration for the Buccaneers’ OC job. Payton deciding on Denver could make a difference for the former NFL wide receiver.
Entering the coaching ranks on Jim Harbaugh‘s 49ers staff back in 2014, Curry moved up the ladder under Payton. The Saints promoted Curry to wide receivers coach in 2018 and to QBs coach in 2021. Dennis Allen kept him on in that role in 2022. Regardless of Curry’s contract status, the Saints could not block him from joining the Broncos as OC due to the promotion it would entail. Curry, a quarterback at North Carolina, played seven seasons as a Raiders wideout in the 2000s.
Curry’s promotion came shortly after Drew Brees‘ retirement, and the Saints — who had previously enjoyed one of the longest-tenured starting QBs in NFL history — have started five over the past two seasons. The team benched Jameis Winston following an early-season injury, sticking with Andy Dalton the rest of the way. Despite not being a regular starter since his Bengals tenure wrapped in 2019, Dalton ranked ninth in passer rating. Curry just finished working as the National Team’s play-caller at the Senior Bowl.
Payton is expected to call plays in Denver. The Broncos went through three play-callers this past season; OC Justin Outten represented the last of those. While the Broncos put up multiple barriers to keep DC Ejiro Evero, they allowed Outten to interview for the Ravens’ OC post early. That points to the former Packers assistant not being in the team’s plans any longer. Outten has spoken with the Ravens twice about their OC job. Eventually let out of his Broncos contract, Evero is now the Panthers’ DC.
The Broncos are expected to bring in Saints staffer Zach Strief and have Declan Doyle on the radar for a Louisiana-to-Colorado move. Payton has also made an offer to Saints assistant Kevin Petry, according to Duncan. Petry has worked as an operations assistant with the Saints for the past six years. Payton is also interested in bringing Mike Westhoff out of retirement, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. Westhoff, 75, worked as a special teams assistant in New Orleans from 2017-18 but has not coached since. He previously enjoyed long tenures with the Jets (2001-12) and Dolphins (1986-2000) and has been in coaching since 1974. The Broncos are also interested in ex-Saints co-DC Kris Richard and longtime offensive staffer Dan Roushar, whom the team fired last month.