It’s the reunion everyone wants — the grizzled old head coach and his former charge. Back together, on a contender, with one last shot to win it all.
Getting Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and New Orleans Saints utility player Taysom Hill back together would be a dream for football die hards around the country, and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell thinks it’s a possible reality approaching the November 4 trade deadline.
Barnwell’s “Dream Scenario” trade brings Hill and a 2028 seventh round pick to the Broncos in exchange for a 2028 sixth round pick.
Hill played for Payton on the Saints from 2017 to 2021. While he’s officially listed as a tight end, he can play quarterback, running back and wide receiver as well.
“Let’s reunite Hill with his biggest fan,” Barnwell wrote on October 16. “Sean Payton’s Broncos have plenty of playmakers, but they could always stand to add another threat on short yardage and in the red zone. Evan Engram has been a disappointment so far (137 yards), and though the Broncos have occasionally gotten Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins involved in the passing game, there’s nobody in the league quite like Hill.”
Hill Back Playing After Torn ACL in 2024
Hill missed the last 9 games of 2024 with a torn ACL in his left knee but returned for a Week 5 win over the New York Giants — the only win for the Saints so far this season — and scored a rushing touchdown in a Week 6 loss to the New England Patriots.
Hill is in the final season of the 4-year, $40 million contract he signed with the Saints in November 2021 — Payton’s final season in New Orleans — and would count $13.7 million in dead money for the Saints in 2026 if he’s traded this season. That would be negated a little bit by the Saints saving $2.8 million if he’s traded now.
The Saints are a team with a first year head coach in Kellen Moore and in the first steps of a massive rebuild — one that will likely include drafting a quarterback in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft. Adding draft capital is key to their future.
“Hill would get a chance to go play for a team with meaningful football ahead in the final days of his NFL career, and I suspect he wouldn’t need too much lead time to learn the playbook,” Barnwell wrote.
‘Human Swiss Army Knife’ Can Fill Any Role
In just 8 games in 2024 before he tore his ACL, Hill had 465 yards from scrimmage and 6 total touchdowns and has scored at least 5 touchdowns in each of the last 5 seasons.
Getting Hill and Payton back together would equal a certain amount of bliss for die-hard NFL fans — and is something people have been pining for since the end of last season.
After making the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2017, Hill quickly developed into a special teams star before Payton began finding larger roles for him in the offense in 2018.
In terms of having a player who could do almost anything on a football field, Hill is almost unmatched over the last 20 years. In 105 career games he has 3,809 all-purpose yards and 55 total touchdowns — 33 rushing touchdowns, 11 receiving touchdowns and 11 passing touchdowns.
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