Could Sean Payton's legacy be in question heading into Year 2 in Denver?

Sean Payton has been held in high regard among NFL head coaches for nearly two decades. Despite his lone Super Bowl win and appearance coming back in 2009, Payton is considered one of the top coaches of his era.

The only coaches with more Super Bowl wins since Payton became a head coach in 2006 are Bill Belichick with New England and Andy Reid in Kansas City. Belichick and Reid have won three apiece since Payton began his head-coaching career.

Even with all the success and accolades over the years, Payton finds himself under scrutiny after a disappointing first year in Denver. It was an eight-win campaign surrounded by Payton’s drama with former quarterback Russell Wilson.

With Wilson out of the way now, there are no more excuses. Payton was quite vocal last year about his displeasure with Wilson. He went out of his way upon arriving in Denver to let Wilson and everyone know who was in charge. Then Payton led a team most thought was ready to compete to an 8-9 record.

For all the remarkable things Payton has done in his career, he wasn’t able to overcome the hype surrounding his arrival in Denver. He was supposed to come in and turn this franchise around immediately. The Broncos did win more games in 2023 than the previous season but still finished under .500.

Payton’s teams have hovered around eight to nine wins in his last three coaching campaigns going back to New Orleans. And while he has coached in multiple NFC title games, having only coached in one Super Bowl has begun to look like a blemish on his resume. In fairness to Payton, the Saints did come out of that Super Bowl victorious.

Recently, Payton was ranked 18th among NFL head coaches in CBS Sports’ top NFL coaches list.

“There might not be a tougher coach to place, perhaps because Payton's become so polarizing. Once the vaunted leader of a hyper-efficient New Orleans Saints contender, he's managed a single playoff victory in his last four years as a head coach, and now he's resetting the table in Denver, likely with a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix ,” CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin wrote.

FS1’s Colin Cowherd did his HC ranking and listed Payton fourth. Some would call Payton polarizing as seen here with mixed reviews in two different rankings. If Payton is going to live up to that No. 4 ranking, he’ll need to get the Broncos to more than eight or nine wins this season.

Coach Payton’s past accomplishments are great, but the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” type of league. Each season is an update to the overall resume. One of Payton’s mentors ( Bill Parcells ) once said, “You are what your record says you are.”

Over the past few years, Payton’s record says he’s much closer to the 18th-ranked coach than he is to the fourth. Another mediocre year and some people will begin to question Payton’s legacy and whether he deserves to be mentioned alongside some of football’s greatest coaches.