Leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, rumors were running rampant and they began to have a significant impact on Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
Payton already knew what his Day 1 plan was, but he began to stress and lose sleep over a potential wrench being thrown into the mix. He had convinced himself that the Los Angeles Rams and head coach Sean McVay were planning to trade up and select Oregon quarterback Bo Nix, who was the apple of Payton’s eye.
Needing an outlet, Payton started to blow up the phone of NFL insider Jay Glazer.
CRAZY STORY 😳 @JayGlazer details how Sean Payton was “driving him crazy” during the draft process w/ concerned calls, CONVINCED the Rams may be trading up to take Bo Nix.
So Glazer got the go-ahead from McVay to tell Payton that they weren’t 😂#KOASuperWeek | @ChevronColorado pic.twitter.com/hXhCH0x0h7
— KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (@KOAColorado) February 6, 2025
“He was convinced,” Glazer recalled. “He was driving me crazy, calling me a million times.”
Glazer tried to calm Payton’s nerves, telling him that he had received bad information and the Rams weren’t targeting a quarterback, but the Broncos coach would not relent. It became so exhausting for Glazer that he personally reached out to McVay and asked for permission to relay the truth.
McVay permitted it but not without messing with Payton a little bit.
“Sean McVay didn’t even look at the quarterbacks,” Glazer said. “He didn’t grade the quarterbacks. They weren’t drafting one. So I said, ‘Can I let Sean Payton know that you’re not trading up because this dude ain’t gonna sleep for like five more days and he’s driving me crazy?’ And I think Sean McVay, at first, goes, ‘Wait another couple days and you can do it.’
“Then finally, like two days earlier I said, ‘McVay has allowed me to tell you—they’re not trading up. You’re good, you’re golden.'”
True to his word, McVay and the Rams did not trade up for a quarterback and Payton white-knuckled it through the first 11 picks. Five quarterbacks had already been taken but the Broncos got their man, selecting Nix at No. 12 overall.
Payton could finally sleep and Glazer got a much-needed break.
