Mike Holmgren won with Brett Favre, but couldn’t put it together in Seattle. Belichick won with Brady, couldn’t figure it out without him. Jimmie Johnson won with Aikman, couldn’t make it work in Miami even with Marino.

Sean Payton is a great coach, but he’s going to find out like so many before him, that the magic he had with Drew Brees is not going to follow him to Denver. Bo Nix looks like a solid pro quarterback. He even has some of the same traits as Drew Brees. But recreating the magic they had together in New Orleans is more than just physical traits.

Denver is in the middle of a full rebuild and they still have 85 million dollars in dead money over the next two years from the Russell Wilson experiment. In addition to Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson round out the quarterback room. It’s hard to find a worse quarterback room in the NFL right now.

Looking at the rest of the roster and how they played last year, its hard to see a team with playmakers at very many positions. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II is probably their best player on the team, but he can’t rush the passer. They managed to get over letting Miami put 70 points on them during the season, but this defense is still porous up front.

Schematically, Sean Payton can position this team to grab a few wins this season, but the talent just isn’t there to be a consistent winner yet. If he has the patience to stick with it, Payton will be able to remake this roster over the next couple of seasons. But it’s going to be a painful couple of years looking up at the rest of the division.

2024 Prediction: 5-12 4th AFC West