Two days after a grueling loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game, Sean Payton is shaking up his coaching staff, including a major move on the offensive side
The Broncos fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, wide receivers coach Keary Colbert and cornerbacks coach Addison Lynch on Tuesday, Payton announced via a statement.
The 54-year-old Lombardi is the most substantial move, considering he had served as Payton’s offensive coordinator for three seasons in Denver, originally hired by the Broncos in February 2023.
Colbert had been Denver’s receivers coach the past three seasons and Lynch was promoted to cornerbacks coach for the 2025 season after serving as a defensive quality control coach his first two seasons in Denver.
“I want to thank these coaches for playing an important role in elevating our program over the last three seasons,” Payton said in a statement. “I’ve been fortunate to work with Joe Lombardi for 15 years and am particularly grateful for his many contributions to our success as offensive coordinator.
“We sincerely appreciate Joe, Keary and Addison’s hard work and wish them all the best in the future.”
The Lombardi firing came independent of coaching buzz around 31-year-old passing-game coordinator Davis Webb, a source told The Denver Post. Webb completed a second in-person interview with the Raiders for their head-coaching vacancy Monday, and could very well depart Denver for Las Vegas — or an offensive-coordinator job elsewhere — in any circumstance.
“You want to see guys that come in, work, that are part of your staff — see them have success,” Payton said Tuesday when asked about the possibility of Webb’s departure. “Not the other way around.
“And then, we’ll figure out when and if we lose a coach, what the plan is going to be.”
Denver will now launch a full search for a new offensive coordinator. According to the NFL’s Rooney Rule, adopted in 2003, the Broncos will be required to interview at least two minority candidates for the open OC job.
Lombardi is a longtime Payton associate, serving under Payton as an offensive assistant and later quarterbacks coach from 2007-2013. After a two-year stint as the Lions’ offensive coordinator, Lombardi returned to New Orleans to work with Drew Brees as Payton’s quarterbacks coach again from 2016 to 2020.
After Brees’ retirement, Lombardi served two years as the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022, before Payton hired him back in Denver in 2023. Lombardi has served an interesting role in the Broncos’ building the last three years since Payton has been Denver’s primary play-caller.
The Broncos finished 2025 ranked 10th in the NFL in total yards and 14th in the NFL in total points, but scuffled through long stretches of offensive inconsistency, particularly early in games. After starting quarterback Bo Nix’s season ended with an ankle injury in a divisional-round win over the Buffalo Bills, the Broncos managed just seven points and 181 net yards with backup QB Jarrett Stidham in a 10-7 loss to the Patriots on Sunday.
At his end-of-season press conference Tuesday morning, Payton made abundantly clear that he was dissatisfied with several aspects of Denver’s overall offensive output. The head coach dove specifically into coaching technique for wide receivers — noting the “proper way to catch a football” was with thumbs together — when asked about his own comments that the Broncos’ pass-catchers had too many drops this season.
Given Payton also reiterated he believed he had good, talented players who fit the mold in the receiving room, the comments foretold trouble for Colbert, a 43-year-old former pro receiver himself.
Payton said he also had a discussion with offensive line coach Zach Strief on Monday on improving the offense’s run game, which dropped from a top-10 unit to a middle-of-the-road attack leaguewide after running back J.K. Dobbins went down with injury midseason.
“I feel like we’re far enough with the RPOs and some of that. But, when we want to run it under center and control the game, we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like, I think,” Payton said. “And so, that’ll be an important study, and with urgency.”
Tuesday’s move certainly constitutes some urgency, and could point to Payton wanting to elevate from within. Webb is an option for OC if he doesn’t get the Vegas job, as is Strief, a former Saints offensive lineman under Payton who’s revamped the Broncos’ front over the course of three years in Denver.
Payton also brought former passing-game coordinator Johnny Morton — hired away as the Lions’ OC and then fired at the end of the year—- as a consultant across the team’s playoff run. The Broncos also employ Pete Carmichael as a senior offensive assistant, who served as the Saints’ offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2023 and has a long history with Payton.
Lynch’s firing comes as a bit of a surprise considering Denver promoted him to cornerbacks coach a year ago, a sign that defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and secondary coach Jim Leonhard trusted him with one of the club’s deepest and most talented groups. Even before he was promoted, Lynch often worked with the Broncos’ cornerbacks while Leonhard worked with the safeties, and worked with the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year in CB Pat Surtain II.
“I appreciate Sean for the opportunity,” Lynch told The Denver Post Tuesday night. “I just look forward to going somewhere next year that sees what I’ve done with the group the last two years, and will value what I bring.”
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