Payton on trade deadline: ‘Superman’s not walking in’

The NFL trade deadline hits on Tuesday, but for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos, their focus is on the here and now and picking up the pieces after a 41-10 thrashing administered to them by the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

“The next 24 hours for me will be just like last Monday or the following Monday or the Monday prior,” Payton said. “It’s going to be putting to bed the game we just played and then the preparation beginning on Kansas City.”

General manager George Paton and his staff will handle any matters that could arise, Payton said.

“I’m sure they’ll get — there’s always these last-minute calls,” added Payton. “Either way, George will keep me abreast. He’ll walk in here [if] he thinks it’s something significant.

“But honestly, the focus is on the guys in this building right here. Superman’s not walking in.”

There is one person who thinks that a superhero could arrive: Payton’s sibling.

“My brother is the worst at this. You ready? He’s the worst at free agency, and he’s the worst at the trade deadline,” Payton said.

“And he just wants to see action. And then, right after the action takes place, he never goes back and reflects and says, ‘Well, that was a bad signing’ or, ‘That was a bad trade.'”

Like a great many fans, Payton says his brother doesn’t understand all the moving parts and considerations required with a trade.

“I kid him, but I think that there’s so much more that goes into it relative to whether you’re trading a player or acquiring a player,” Payton said. “Contracts go into it, vision goes into it, locker room goes in. There’s a lot of details that go into that.”

The Broncos didn’t make any deadline deals last year. And while there have been some rumblings about deals involving Greg Dulcich and Baron Browning, both of whom have seen their playing time cut or eliminated in recent weeks, the market isn’t likely to yield more than late-round draft capital for players who are backups and have lengthy injury histories.

(Editor’s note: Late-round capital is exactly all the Broncos could extract for Browning, trading him for a sixth-round pick.)

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