SAN FRANCISCO — Trent Sherfield didn’t even need to hear the full length of the question before turning up his nose.
“No one has called plays for Sean Payton in 18 years. Just knowing him over a few months, is that a move —”
“That’s not happening,” Sherfield interjected Monday night.
The former Broncos receiver then broke into a chuckle, knowing quite well the discussion that’s swirling around Denver.
“I don’t think so,” Sherfield continued. “I don’t think so. I’m putting my money on that — ain’t no way he’s giving up play-calling duties.”
The 62-year-old Payton will face a true crossroads once returning from offseason vacation, after the Broncos successfully convinced fast-rising offensive mind Davis Webb to stay on as the team’s new offensive coordinator. A source told The Denver Post after Webb’s official hire on Monday that Payton had made no official decision on passing off play-calling, and that there wasn’t any specific language in Webb’s contract that stipulated he’d actually take up those duties.
It would make little sense, ultimately, for Webb to pass on legitimate OC interest elsewhere — Baltimore and New York, for two — to be relegated to simple operational duties and a title change under Payton in 2026. But Webb’s direct level of involvement is still wholly unclear. And Denver now marches head-on into the offseason, coming off a year of inconsistent offense that resulted in the firing of previous offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.
The Denver Post asked a host of former Payton acolytes for their opinion on the question that could represent a seismic shift in Denver: would Payton actually hand over the keys?
And more importantly, why or why not?
‘Sean’s show’
Deuce McAllister answered the question within exactly one minute of being sent a text and within the span of two sentences.
“Hey … nice to meet you,” McAllister texted The Post Tuesday. “Sean’s not giving up play-calling.”
McAllister was the Saints’ bell-cow running back in Payton’s first season as a head coach in 2006, and he remained in New Orleans’ backfield next to Reggie Bush for two more seasons. In 2018, he joined New Orleans’ FOX affiliate as a Saints analyst, has stayed in touch with several Payton staffers, and has golfed with the man himself in the offseason. McAllister said now-Bills head coach Joe Brady — a late-20s offensive assistant with Payton in New Orleans from 2017-18 — brought in great offensive ideas. So did now-Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, a mid-20s offensive assistant with Payton in his final seasons in New Orleans and then the Broncos’ tight ends coach in his first two years in Denver.
“But,” McAllister told The Post over the phone, “it was still Sean’s show. And I think that’ll be the same thing (with Davis).”
That being said, Payton would often pass off specific situational duties to different areas of his offensive staff in New Orleans. McAllister noted that Webb could have an increased role as a play-designer — bringing Payton a list of concepts he liked on first down, for example.
But Payton will have the ultimate sign-off, McAllister said.
“I mean, Sean’s not physically playing, but he’s still a competitor,” McAllister said. “And he knows the buck’s going to fall with him.”
‘Even the mad geniuses need some idea guys’
Jason Garrett widened his eyes and opted for diplomacy.
“Well, I hope he doesn’t,” Garrett said Tuesday, at a roundtable in San Francisco for Super Bowl week. “Because he’s a great play-caller. He’s one of the best play-callers of his generation in the NFL. And he’s done such an amazing job in Denver, in New Orleans before that.”
Garrett, the former Cowboys head coach, was a backup quarterback with the New York Giants for three years in the early 2000s, where Payton was the offensive coordinator. In 2002, then-head coach Jim Fassel stripped Payton of play-calling duties midseason. It was the last time Payton rid himself of a call sheet — by his choice or someone else’s.
“If he chooses not to do it anymore,” Garrett said, “it just should be because he’s wanting to pass the torch. Because whoever does it, those are big shoes to fill.”
Elsewhere in the same room, NBC analyst Chris Simms, a former quarterback for several years under Payton associate Jon Gruden, echoed Garrett’s sentiment. With a considerably stronger reverb.
“No way,” Simms said. “No way.”
Similar to McAllister, though, Simms noted that Webb could form a sort of mind-meld with Payton. In studying tape throughout 2025, Simms told The Post he felt Payton’s 14th-ranked offense — normally ripe with gadgets — was “rather basic” in 2025.
“I feel like Lombardi was very basic West Coast offense,” Simms said. “I think Davis Webb is going to have more ideas to throw into the pot of stew for Sean Payton, and more concepts, and a little more creative that way.
“And I think that’s probably what Sean’s looking for,” Simms added. “Sean’s a mad genius. But even the mad geniuses need some idea guys behind the scenes, right?”
A big maybe
Lance Moore took a completely different stance.
“He’s super smart, but not one of those people that thinks it always needs to be about him,” Moore texted The Post on Payton Tuesday. “If he sees there’s an opportunity for them to be better, then it would make total sense to me that he’d make that change.”
Moore was one of Payton’s key receivers in New Orleans from 2006 to 2013, there to witness the full journey of Payton truly clicking with his scheme and with quarterback Drew Brees beginning in 2009. In many ways, Payton has cycled through several evolutions since: incorporating more run-pass option concepts with gadget extraordinaire Taysom Hill in Brees’ final seasons, pulling a 9-8 season out of four starting quarterbacks after Brees’ retirement in 2021, and trying to mold his attack for rookie Bo Nix and mold Nix into it in Denver.
Along the way, Payton always kept a contingency plan in his back pocket: he’d have longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. call plays during the preseason over the years to “stay sharp,” as former Saints backup quarterback Luke McCown remembered. He did the same with Webb in August 2025, handing him the reins for a 27-7 preseason win over the Cardinals that rocketed Webb’s stock.
“I personally don’t see Sean giving it up full time,” McCown texted. “But giving the stage of his coaching career … maybe.”
What’s in a title?
Troy Franklin burst out laughing when told that Payton’s never once given up play-calling.
“Man, for me knowing Sean – I think Sean, if he trusts Davis to call the (expletive), he’s going to let him do it, for sure,” Franklin told The Post in San Francisco Thursday. “Most definitely. So that’s all I can say about that.”
He wasn’t playing coy. The second-year Broncos receiver quite honestly doesn’t know what’ll happen here: Payton hasn’t indicated to the larger roster whether or not Webb will call plays, as Franklin confirmed. The 31-year-old former quarterbacks coach, though, has the public endorsement and trust of almost every Bronco who’s spoken out.
“He has the (OC) title, so he’s going to have some type of say in the offense, for sure,” Franklin said.
There are two complete worlds within that statement, though: one where Payton finally takes his hands off the hilt, and one where Denver continues to live and die by his sword.
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