Mike Zimmer as Sean Payton's defensive coordinator in Denver?
Buried deep in Albert Breer's MMQB column this week is a juicy detail about people wondering aloud to him about the possibility of Mike Zimmer as new Broncos head coach Sean Payton's defensive coordinator in Denver.
Zimmer, out of the NFL since being fired by the Minnesota Vikings after the 2021 season, is supposedly joining Deion Sanders' staff at Colorado University. Sanders has said Zimmer is "coming" to Boulder but the university hasn't made anything official with the 66-year-old coach.
Enter Breer with this tantalizing thought:
"It seems as if Seattle assistant Sean Desai, an old Vic Fangio disciple, is well positioned for the Broncos job, but I’ve had multiple people wonder aloud to me if Payton might take a swing at luring Mike Zimmer, whom he worked with in Dallas, over to Denver from Boulder, where Zimmer is working for Deion Sanders."
Is this just a meaningless-yet-interesting note from Breer or is this a comment planting seeds for future news? Where there's smoke there's fire?
The connections between Payton and Zimmer run deep. They were both on Bill Parcels' staff in Dallas from 2003 to 2005 before Payton was hired as head coach of the Saints. A 2018 story from ESPN profiled their close relationship, noting that they are golf buddies and have been "great friends" for years.
What's more is that Denver general manager George Paton was part of the Vikings front office for all eight seasons Zimmer was head coach in Minnesota. That could be meaningless, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Related: 10 facts about new Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores
Related: Minnesota Vikings 2023 offseason guide: What's going to happen?
