NFL news: Sean Payton doesn’t like the name of this NFL Network show
April 9, 2026, 6:30 a.m. MT
The Denver Broncos were quiet through the first week of NFL free agency. As clubs across the league signed outside free agents from other teams, the Broncos focused on re-signing many of their in-house free agents.
Denver finally made a splash during the second week of free agency, bringing in wide receiver Jaylen Waddle via trade with the Miami Dolphins. Before that Waddle trade, there was plenty of angst in Broncos Country as fans and pundits watched free agents find NFL homes while the Broncos seemingly stood pat.
While speaking at the NFL’s annual league meeting in Arizona last month, Denver coach Sean Payton was asked if he sensed the angst during free agency.
“We tune out the angst,” Payton said. “There was a lot of angst when we selected Bo [Nix] where we selected him. There was a lot of angst when we made quite a few of these decisions. You have to tune that out. … We are aware of that. We understand that. And yet, you cannot chase what others outside of the building feel like you should be doing. We spent a lot of time on this free agency class. We had a pecking order of what we thought was most important, and we were able to accomplish that.
“I’m sure glad that we had the Waddle trade done before I was coaching that flag football game and our fan base wasn’t going crazy as I’m working on a flag game plan. I think in fairness, and I recognize that everyone would say, ‘Hey, you have Bo on his rookie deal.’ Well, no kidding, but just do the research. You go back in that first week of free agency and if you are batting .380 or .395, it’s about where the numbers lie. If you went back five years from now… Just go backwards and said, ‘Would they do it again?’
“We did a really good job of, in Year 1, of hitting on some priority free agents that were immediately able to change the flight pattern in which we were traveling. I think George [Paton] and I felt strongly that there were a few of these players that really, ‘A.’ we were re-signing that were already on our existing team and, ‘B,’ a number of these players who we re-did contracts with. That time of the season has been marketed right in front of every one of your eyes.”
Payton then took umbrage with NFL Network’s popular “Free Agency Frenzy” show.
“What is the next word that comes after free agency from the NFL Network and from NFL.com?” Payton asked. “‘Frenzy.’ Frenzy is what you don’t want. Frenzy implies that it has to happen, chaos… It’s all marketing. Steady, right decision. ‘What’s our plan?’ Stick with our plan. Tune out the noise. Same is going to apply to this draft.
“We don’t know who is driving this bus. The first-round bus, I call it. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up selecting a player that maybe someone else thinks [you should]. We are excited to add a player like Jaylen. We spent a lot of time looking at that selection and trying to determine… We could safely say that pick would’ve been one of these seven or eight players. We didn’t feel like that would help us as much as Jaylen Waddle.”
In the end, the Broncos stuck to their plan and their budget, and while he wasn’t a free agent signing, Waddle was a huge addition for Denver. Payton’s squad reached the AFC Championship game last season, and after adding a talented receiver, the Broncos are now set to add more talent during the NFL draft later this month. The roster building isn’t done yet, and the angst that was felt early in free agency was unwarranted in hindsight.
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