Boomer Esiason thinks Baker Mayfield and Sean Payton would provide fireworks in Denver

LAS VEGAS — Baker Mayfield and the Denver Broncos?

That’s a quarterback marriage that Boomer Esiason wants to see.

It’s combustible. It’s a union of two personalities who could be termed “mercurial.” And yet, it might work brilliantly — or be so combustible that it makes the football landscape explode.

“Oh, I’d love to see him with Sean Payton,” Esiason said Tuesday. “That would be unbelievable. They’d be screaming back and forth at each other!”

Boomer Esiason never seemed to lack for drama in his long-since-passed playing career. In Cincinnati, he played for the late Sam Wyche, a coach who frequently found himself at the leading edge of both offensive innovation and the controversies of the day.

So, pass the popcorn if Payton and Mayfield become a match.

“Come on, the NFL needs Baker and Sean Payton together, right? ‘Cause (Tampa Bay coach) Todd Bowles is like, ‘Good play,’ and they (Mayfield and Payton) would be screaming at each other. It would be great.”

It’s also unlikely to happen.

.@NFLonCBS’ Boomer Esiason wants to see Denver pursue QB Baker Mayfield.

“Baker proved that he could do it. You know, Baker’s going to be a free agent. Oh, I’d love to see him with Sean Payton. That would be unbelievable. They’d be screaming back & forth at each other! …” pic.twitter.com/cQ6XH9SaqA

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) February 7, 2024

BAKER MAYFIELD MIGHT NOT BE A PLAUSIBLE NEW BRONCOS QUARTERBACK …

… and this is entirely due to a combination of the Broncos’ looming salary-cap crunch and Mayfield’s potential price tag — perhaps in the $30-$40-million-per-year range after he guided a second franchise to a playoff win in four years.

And beyond that, Tampa Bay might simply bring Mayfield back. Given his role in guiding the Buccaneers to an unexpected division title and foray into the NFL’s final eight, this would make sense for all parties.

So, that leads to the bargain bin. Veteran castoffs. Late-round quarterbacks. Young passers who have some upside but don’t have a starting job awaiting them.

In the eyes of Boomer Esiason, one such quarterback is Bengals backup Jake Browning, who stepped in for the injured Joe Burrow and performed admirably last season.

“And as we’re finding out, not everybody has to be a first-round draft choice,” Esiason said. “It’s great to be Patrick Mahomes, but Brock Purdy has broken the glass slipper, if you will. You can find that guy.

“And a guy like Jake Browning on the Bengals, for instance. Came out of nowhere. And had a great year replacing Joe Burrow.

“Could that be a guy that the Broncos would consider? Because he would be a less-expensive guy, and you could build a better team around him. So, somebody like that be in the offing, or somebody in the draft.”

All of these potential solutions might not be ones to solve the problem for a decade or more. But that’s not the worst thing in the world.

“You’re looking for a two-year stop-gap. Like Geno Smith in Seattle,” Esiason said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Of course, Smith replaced Russell Wilson. The trade for Wilson was supposed to stop the carousel. Instead, he appears to have become exactly the way Esiason described Wilson’s Seahawks successor: the “two-year stop-gap.”

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