The Denver Broncos have lost two assistant coaches to promotions to other teams in this current offseason cycle, but Sean Payton has also moved on from two assistants just two weeks after their season ended. What’s the latest move from Payton?
Denver Broncos part ways with linebacker coach Greg Manusky
When Sean Payton first took the head coaching job here for the Denver Broncos, one of the things he told us when it came to his assistant coaches was that he is ‘slow to hire, quick to fire’ — essentially meaning that he carefully evaluates who he brings onto his staff and if they’re not a fit, he’s usually quick to move on.
On Tuesday, the Broncos moved on from inside linebacker coach Greg Manusky, as first reported by NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero.
Manusky was hired by Payton in 2023 when he took over as the head coach, and now both sides are parting ways. During his end-of-the-year press conference, Payton noted that he and the coaching staff would take a step back for two weeks before returning and evaluating the roster and recapping every position from the 2024 season. Not only did he mention that players were under evaluation, but that they’d also evaluate the coaching staff as well.
Manusky is the second coach that Payton has parted ways with this offseason, with the first being a bit of a surprise with former special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica.
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Denver’s inside linebacker position saw Alex Singleton, Cody Barton, Justin Strnad, and Drew Sanders see snaps this season, with a lot of the Broncos defense being impacted by the loss of Singleton, who tore his ACL in Week 3. Barton and Strnad stepped into roles of starter, while Sanders made the switch from edge back to off-ball after he was cleared to return from the Achilles injury he suffered in April of last year.
Right now, the Broncos linebacker position is one of the team’s biggest personnel-related question marks going into the offseason, and now they’ll have to identify and find a new coach for what could look like an entirely different room going into 2025.
As it currently stands, the Broncos will need to hire a new inside linebacker coach, a new special teams coordinator, a new passing game coordinator on offense, and a new tight end coach. More changes could be coming this week.