Report: Sean Payton Wanted to Show Up at Bo Nix's Door on Draft Day

Sean Payton was all-in on the Denver Broncos landing Bo Nix in the 2024 NFL draft.

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and rookie quarterback Bo Nix. / Ben Swanson/Denver Broncos

As long as Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix keeps himself firmly in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race, it figures that wins will also keep stacking toward the ultimate goal of making the playoffs.

With every passing week, Broncos head coach Sean Payton's shrewd decision to take Nix with the 12th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft gets further vindicated. The nature of the fickle NFL draft beast dictates that some draftniks and analysts would claim Payton reached to fill the Broncos' massive void under center. 

Payton was so smitten by Nix that he had to shout it from the rooftops. We learned last spring from FOX Sports' Jay Glazer that Payton wanted to give up some air miles to let Nix know in person the Broncos were drafting him. Glazer shared that story on national television over the weekend.

"Here's the thing with Bo Nix. [Payton] love him dating all the way back to March and his personal workout. We all know Sean's crazy, right? We worked with him. He comes up with this crazy idea like two days before the draft. He says, 'I'm going to fly to where Bo Nix is, and when he gets drafted, I'm going to knock on his door and personally tell him that we're drafting him.' Luckily, we talked Sean out of that, but that's how much he loved this dude. He's like, 'I wanted everyone to know, he was always my guy,'" Glazer said during the FOX Sports pre-game show.

Sean Payton loved Bo Nix so much he almost flew to him to personally tell the QB the Broncos were drafting him 🤣@JayGlazer has more ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/RrvYMoQ18i

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2024

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Glazer also maintains that had the Broncos been sitting on the No. 1 overall pick, Payton would have taken Nix, not Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, or Drake Maye. That's what Payton told the veteran reporter.

If we cast our minds back to when Payton was poring over the scouting reports, he wasn't afraid to declare that he was looking to fall in love with a quarterback again. Payton's 15-year partnership with Drew Brees put the quarterback on a Hall-of-Fame path, and the veteran head coach needed to find his new pard.

After a botched arranged marriage with the extremely unsuited Russell Wilson, we can only imagine what Nix's reaction would have been had Payton actually turned up on his doorstep with a bouquet of draft flowers. Joking aside, this isn't just a bromance with an over-the-top subplot; it's a working relationship that both men didn't want to waste any time getting on wheels.

It started with Payton identifying his man and Nix planting his flag on the turf during training camp by winning the Broncos' open quarterback competition to become the day-one starter. Fast forward to the three-quarter mark of the 2024 season, and the Payton/Nix partnership has translated into the Broncos being on the road to snapping a nearly decade-long playoff drought.

The Broncos sit at 8-5 with a two-game lead for the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs, while Nix has passed for 2,842 yards and 17 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He's also chipped in another 304 yards rushing and four scores on the ground. Counting Nix's receiving touchdown in Baltimore, he has the most total scores among 2024 rookie quarterbacks (22).

The best part? Coach Payton didn't have to waste any air miles and he landed Nix at No. 12 overall.

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