Sean Payton Is the Denver Broncos' New Head Coach — What's His Net Worth?

Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is heading to Denver. The Denver Broncos agreed on Jan. 31 to hand over their 2023 first-round pick and 2024 second-round pick to the Saints to get Payton on board as their head coach, ESPN reports.

Although Payton stopped coaching the Saints after their 2021 season, the team still owned his coaching rights. Besides interviewing for the Broncos job, he had also interviewed recently for head coach jobs with the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, and Houston Texans.

According to the Celebrity Net Worth, Payton has amassed a net worth of $24 million throughout his career with the NFL. As the Broncos’ newest head coach, Payton will reportedly earn an annual salary of between $17 million and $20 million, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league.

In the early 1980s, Payton was a quarterback for the football team at Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Ill. Upon graduating in 1982, he received a football scholarship to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill.

As quarterback for the Eastern Illinois Panthers, Payton led the team to an 11–2 record. He accomplished a school record of 509 passing yards in one game. After college, Payton tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs but didn’t get a spot on the team. He played ball for an arena football team, a Canadian Football League team, and a British American Football team. In 1987, during the NFL players strike, Payton was part of the group of replacement players known as the “Spare Bears.”

Payton’s first coaching gig was as an offensive assistant at San Diego State University in 1988. He held several other college football coaching positions between 1988 and 1997. In 1997, he got his first NFL coaching position as the quarterback coach for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Between 1998 and 2005, Payton held various coaching positions with the Eagles, New York Giants, and Dallas Cowboys until he was hired as head coach for the Saints in 2006. Payton was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year in his first year with the Saints.

Payton’s tenure as the Saints' head coach is the second longest in the NFL behind New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. He led the Saints for almost 15 years, between 2006 and 2021.

Payton was forced to sit out the 2012 season as punishment after an NFL investigation found the Saints were using a bounty program that rewarded players for deliberately attempting to knock opposing players out to the game. While suspended, he helped out as offensive coordinator for his son’s six-grade football team.

In 2018, Payton was seen dancing in the locker room with Saints players after the team defeated the Carolina Panthers, which inspired musician Shamarr Allen to create the song “Hit the Sean Payton” and a dance to go with it.