Two days after a grueling loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game, Sean Payton is making a major move to his offensive staff.
The Broncos have fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, sources confirmed to The Denver Post on Tuesday afternoon. The 54-year-old Lombardi has served as Payton’s offensive coordinator for three seasons in Denver, originally hired by the Broncos in February 2023.
The move comes amid widespread league interest in 31-year-old passing-game coordinator Davis Webb, who completed a second in-person interview with the Las Vegas Raiders for their head-coaching vacancy on Monday. If Denver’s able to hang onto Webb, Payton could easily promote the fast-rising quarterbacks coach to an open OC spot.
“You want to see guys that come in, work, that are part of your staff — see them have success,” Payton said Tuesday when asked on 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.”
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, as 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.
Payton said he also had a discussion with offensive-line coach Zach Strief 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, 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.
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