Kareem Jackson is scouting the Combine talent for the Broncos. Payton and Paton meet the press Tuesday.

INDIANAPOLIS — There wasn’t much wrong with the Denver defense last season, but head coach Sean Payton didn’t become one of the NFL’s all-time winningest coaches by accepting complacency.

Payton, who currently ranks 13th on the NFL’s all-time wins list with 184 over 18 seasons, and the Denver Broncos brought in NFL veteran coach Mike Zimmer in for a visit last week, according to 9NEWS sources.

No deal was finalized but there appears to be mutual interest. Should Zimmer, who is 69 and worked continuously as a football coach or consultant from 1979 until he sat out last season, and the Broncos work out an agreement, it would likely be in a senior coaching capacity.

Zimmer began his coaching career with the University of Missouri in 1979 and started in the NFL as a Dallas Cowboys’ defensive assistant in 1994. Defense is where Zimmer spent his entire career with the exception of an eight-year head coaching stint with the Minnesota Vikings from 2014-21. Broncos’ general manager George Paton was the Vikings’ assistant general manager during the first seven years of the Zimmer era in Minnesota.

Zimmer served as an analyst/consultant for the University of Colorado and Deion Sanders in 2023, then was the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator in 2024.

The Denver defense under coordinator Vance Joseph was No. 2 in yards allowed last season and No. 3 in scoring defense. Joseph’s unit also led the league in sacks by wide margins each of the past two seasons with 68 in 2025 and 63 in 2024.


Kareem returns

Checking in for NFL Combine work on Monday was the team’s former starting safety Kareem Jackson.

He said he is serving as a southwest regional college scout for the Broncos. A 14-year NFL starting defensive back – 10 years with the Houston Texans, who made him a first-round draft pick out of Alabama in 2010, and four years as a starting strong safety with the Broncos — Jackson spent a 15th season with Buffalo in 2024, mostly on their practice squad.

Jackson spent part of last offseason with the Broncos in an undefined role.   


Payton and Paton

Payton and Paton are scheduled to hold 15-minute press conferences on Tuesday afternoon. Payton will no doubt be asked about whether he or newly promoted offensive coordinator Davis Webb will be calling offensive plays this season.