Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 27, 2022AP Photo/Duane Burleson
The Denver Broncos have not made the playoffs in six years.
They are close to a deal with the Green Bay Packers to hire Nathaniel Hackett as their new head coach, according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.
Adam Schefter confirmed the news.
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter
Once Nathaniel Hackett was scheduled to interview with the Jaguars today, the Broncos stepped in last night to get a deal done to prevent him from going to Jacksonville.
Jaguars still considering Byron Leftwich and Matt Eberflus, a finalist for the Bears job.
The position was open after the Broncos fired Vic Fangio. He finished with a losing record in each of the three seasons he was at the helm.
Joe Ellis said at the time that George Paton would have full authority to pick the next head coach of the Broncos. I have complete confidence in George's ability to lead a successful head coaching search.
He has a daunting task ahead of him, after that search landed on him.
Denver missed the playoffs for the sixth year in a row in 2021. It was a far cry from the five straight AFC West titles from 2011 through 2015 that featured two Super Bowl appearances and one Lombardi Trophy.
The Broncos will have to contend with two of the best quarterbacks in the league in Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, as the Kansas City Chiefs have taken over the division. The Las Vegas Raiders made the playoffs this past season, leaving the new squad at the bottom of the table.
The quarterback concerns in Denver are made more pressing by the fact that Herbert and Mahomes are in the same division.
During the last six years, the Broncos have turned to players such as Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, as the days of John Elway and Peyton Manning winning Super Bowls are over.
It isn't a list of the best signal-callers in the NFL, even though Lock was a second-round pick in 2019.
The hope was that Lock would be that, but he led the league with 15 intercepts in 2020 and sat behind Bridgewater for much of the 2021.
Denver has a passionate fan base and a well-established history of success, but it will be up to Hackett to help find the answer at quarterback and compete in a challenging division that features some of the best players in the league.
When he was the offensive coach of the Green Bay Packers this past season, he helped lead them to the best record in the NFC at 13-4, and he is used to competing at the highest level.
Since the start of the season, the Green Bay Packers have been led by Hackett, who has experience as an offensive assistant with the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Packers have been to the Super Bowl each of the last two years, and the Jags reached the playoffs in the last two seasons with him on the staff.
If the Broncos can duplicate that success in the future, they should be a force in the conference.
AP Photo/Duane Burleson
