Broncos acquire ex-Sean Payton player in trade with Saints

Feb 6, 2023; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton speaks at the UCHealth Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Payton continues to construct New Orleans West.

Payton’s Denver Broncos made a trade on Saturday with his former team, the New Orleans Saints. The Broncos sent a sixth-round pick (No. 195) to the Saints in exchange for tight end Adam Trautman and a seventh-round pick (No. 257), per ESPN’s Field Yates. New Orleans went on to use their newly-acquired pick on Wake Forest wide receiver A.T. Perry.

The 26-year-old Trautman spent two seasons under Payton in New Orleans, totaling 434 yards and three TDs. Last season under Payton’s successor, Dennis Allen, Trautman had 22 catches for 207 yards and a touchdown (taking more of a backseat to fellow Saints tight end Juwan Johnson).

Trautman might not have a much bigger role in Denver since Broncos tight end Greg Dulcich showed great chemistry as a rookie last year with Russell Wilson (with Albert Okwuegbunam also lurking on the depth chart). But Trautman becomes another one of several ex-Saints players Payton has collected ahead of his first season in Denver.