Changes are coming to the Denver Broncos’ offense, but it felt like they got resolved when coach Sean Payton spoke at the NFL combine last week. Payton shocked many experts, observers and fans by announcing that newly-minted offensive coordinator Davis Webb would be handling the play-calling chores going forward, but evidently this isn’t a completely done deal yet.
Simply put, Payton is splitting hairs here. According to a report on post-combine takeaways that included input from Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, Webb will be the primary play-caller, but the coach said he’ll still call “some” plays in games.
No one knows quite what this means right now, as there’s a lot going on behind that seemingly simple statement. According to a report by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, Payton was peeved that Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane dropped the news about the play-calling change before Payton’s combine presser, and Volin also reported that Webb turned down an opportunity to become the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles for more money to stay with Denver.
The stipulation there, Volin added, was that Webb’s new contract included language that in includes play-calling, but Kosmider’s report of Payton’s wording raises questions about how this will happen going forward.
Will Webb really be the full-time play-caller for the Broncos this season? If he’s not, when will Payton step in, and how is this arrangement going to work? What happens if the Broncos’ offense struggles early under Webb’s play-calling when the temptation to step in and take over completely is on the table for Payton?
These are all valid questions, but they may not be answered for a while. It was surprising to hear Payton speak at all about this issue, but he basically had to when Beane leaked the news and put him on the spot.
Payton will likely go off the radar for a while when it comes to speaking out about this. The Broncos have some important cap-related moves involving multiple players this month, and it would be surprising to see the team announce these via anything other than formal statements with minimal details.
The issue is definitely worth tracking, though. The Broncos have made a lot of changes on the coaching front in a short span of time, especially for a team that made it all the way to the AFC Championship game. It’s entirely possible that Payton himself is waffling about what’s going to happen as tries to plug the leak, so it will be interesting to see when he surfaces again and what he has to say about all this.