Conflicting Reports Spark Sean Payton-DeMeco Ryans Controversy

The NFL coaching market is starting to close shop, with reported hirings beginning to trickle in ahead of Super Bowl LVII. Those hirings haven’t come without some drama, however.

Just minutes after it was reported Tuesday by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Denver Broncos had finalized a deal to acquire head coach Sean Payton, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported the Houston Texans would be hiring former linebacker DeMeco Ryans for their head coaching job.

It seemingly was a normal afternoon in the NFL, with two of the four head-coaching vacancies being filled.

Well, not so fast.

After reporting the Ryans news, Rapoport detailed a cycle of events regarding the Broncos’ hiring process.

“Unbelievable: The Broncos spent today trying to hire DeMeco Ryans AGAIN today before he recommitted to the Texans, sources say,” Rapoport tweeted. “When he agreed to terms with the Texans, they moved and finalized Sean Payton.”

Rapoport went on to add a wrinkle, reporting the Broncos also made a play at hiring Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh somewhere in that process. Schefter, who initially reported the Payton-Broncos marriage, didn’t appear to like that, refuting the report.

“Timing of today’s two hires was completely coincidental,” Schefter tweeted. “Broncos were zeroed in on Sean Payton, and didn’t make any contact this week with DeMeco Ryans or his agent. Denver was focused on Payton, and Houston on Ryans.”

That’s called a subtweet, folks.

The Texans announced the hiring of Ryans just minutes later, effectively putting an end to the saga between him and the Broncos. Or so we think.