Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton doesn’t normally answer questions about “bold predictions” from ESPN.
That changed on Thursday, when a reporter asked for a response to something Seth Walder penned earlier this week.
In the “NFL Future Power Rankings,” Walder wrote something bizarre. He thinks that QB Bo Nix “will lose his starting job during the 2027 season, which will be his last as a Bronco.”
Coming off an impressive rookie year, in which Nix threw 29 touchdown passes, this is silly. He was third in the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year vote. Payton thinks he’ll be a top-4 or top-5 QB in the NFL in the next two seasons.
Walder didn’t need to write it, other than to stir up some traffic, and Sean Payton didn’t need to answer a question on it. But the head coach was gracious, when he could’ve been dismissive, and gave a solid response.
“My initial thoughts are 2027 seems like an eternity from now,” Payton said. “I think that’s one of the challenges, maybe with the media landscape, it’s going to draw clicks and everything. But I can’t worry about ‘Nick’ from ESPN and I can’t worry about 2027.”
Calling Seth Walder “Nick” is a nice little jab from Payton. He had already forgotten the guy’s name.
And in the meantime, Payton’s glad to come back to this three seasons down the road.
“I can focus on this year, but let’s find him in 2027 and see where we’re at,” Payton said with a bit of a smile.
Clearly, Sean Payton thinks Nix will be Denver’s quarterback well past his fourth year in the NFL. And hopefully by that point he’s got some more hardware to back up his play on the field.
Circling back with Walder, as they say in the corporate world, would indeed be a fun exercise.