| Good morning, and welcome to the Saints Insider newsletter for Wednesday, Feb. 1. Well, it finally happened -- Sean Payton is a Denver Bronco. After weeks of rumor and speculation that dominated local and national headlines, the former New Orleans Saints head coach was hired to lead the longtime AFC West Division power. During an exclusive phone conversation with me from his home in Los Angeles, Payton called it "the opportunity I was looking for" and compared the passionate Denver fanbase and tradition to the one that existed in New Orleans, where he coached the Saints for 15 seasons from 2006 to 2021. My column on Denver's hiring of Payton, and why he elected to join forces with the Broncos. Here's a breakdown of our coverage of the big move by Payton: --Payton praised the ownership group of the Denver Broncos and said general manager George Paton and Saints general manager Mickey Loomis did "a great job" of negotiating the compensation for a trade package to finalize the deal. The full transcript of my exclusive interview the Payton. --The hire means a return of two high draft picks for the Saints, who owned the rights to Payton for two more years. Beat reporter Luke Johnson examines what Payton's hire means for the Saints as the club begins a big offseason under second-year head coach Dennis Allen. --Payton has his work cut out for him in his new gig as the Broncos are coming off a disappointing 5-12 season. Reporter Patrick Magee lists the three main tasks facing him as the Broncos new coach. --Reporter Jim Derry polled readers to ask them if the Saints landed enough draft pick compensation in their trade for Payton? The results might surprise you. That's it for today. Our Saints coverage team will have more news on the Payton situation, as well as daily coverage of the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in the days ahead. Keep it locked here throughout the week as we'll have a team of reporters bringing you the latest from Mobile. Until next time, Jeff Duncan | 