The Dallas Cowboys will face off against the Denver Broncos in a Week 8 matchup on Sunday, pitting Jerry Jones‘ team against head coach Sean Payton and his AFC West-leading squad at Denver’s Mile High Stadium.
Jones’ Cowboys are led by first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who the organization hired following the dismissal of Mike McCarthy in January.
Payton served as assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach for the Cowboys from 2003-05. As such, he’s been constantly floated as a possible head coaching hire for Dallas over the years.
During his weekly radio appearance with 105.3 The Fan on Friday, Jones was asked if he ever considered hiring Payton as the Cowboys’ head coach.
“Several times. It just never fit. He was never there when we needed to be thinking about making a change. The timing never fit,” Jones said, via team insider Jon Machota of The Athletic.
“There’s no coach that we think any more of, respect any more, than we do Sean Payton,” he added.
Payton landed his first head-coaching job with the New Orleans Saints immediately following his stint with the Cowboys. The Super Bowl XLIV champion was hired by the Broncos before the 2023 NFL season, two years before Jones and his Dallas franchise made their most-recent coaching change.
The Cowboys are 3-3-1 to start their first campaign under Schottenheimer. Payton and the Broncos are 5-2 to open up the 2025 season, marking the team’s best start since he took over as head coach in 2023.
Dallas is fresh off a Week 7 victory over Washington, taking down the Commanders with a dominant 44-22 final score this past weekend. The Broncos have won each of their last four games, including Week 7’s stunning comeback victory over the New York Giants.
Sunday’s Week 8 clash between Jones’ Cowboys and Payton’s Broncos will kickoff at 4:25 p.m. ET.
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