AFC Notes: Broncos, Chiefs, Derek Carr, Raiders

Broncos

• Payton said he and GM George Paton have got along great during their brief time together: “There’s this myth I’m this tyrant that has to come in and control everything. I’m like, ‘Where are you guys getting all this stuff from?’ I might be a tyrant once in a while but not a lot. Anyway, I really enjoy his company and it’s worked well so far.” (Klis)
• Former Saints assistant OL coach Zach Strief is expected to join the Broncos coaching staff. Saints offensive assistant Declan Doyle is also a candidate for Broncos tight end’s coach. (Josina Anderson)
• Jeff Duncan reports that Payton has also made an offer to longtime assistant Kevin Petry to join his staff.
• Payton has expressed interest in hiring former Saints co-DC Kris Richard and TE coach Dan Roushar, both of whom New Orleans let go this offseason. Richard has experience as a secondary coach and Roushar has also been an OL coach. (Jeff Duncan)
• Mike Klis reports that Broncos OLB coach Bert Watts is not expected to return and could join DC Ejiro Evero with the Panthers.
• Albert Breer reports that long-time special teams coach Mike Westhoff could come out of retirement as he is on Payton’s radar.

Chiefs

Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said he hasn’t taken any interviews for potential offensive coordinator openings this offseason, despite reported interest.

“I have not taken any interviews for any offensive coordinator positions,” Bieniemy said, via Nicki Jhabvala. “I’ve only taken one interview, for a head-coaching position. Right now, I’ve interviewed with the Indianapolis Colts. I thought it went great. We’ll see where that goes. Now, as far as the offensive coordinator stuff, right now I am where my feet are. And right now I’m focused on helping us to win this game this weekend.”

• Bieniemy on returning to the Chiefs next season: “Here’s the thing, I’ll have that conversation with Coach Reid at that particular time. … Obviously, I’ve known Coach Reid for damn near half my life. We’ll sit down and have a talk, and we’ll talk about everything.” (Nicki Jhabvala)

Raiders

It’s looking increasingly likely that Raiders QB Derek Carr will be released instead of traded before Las Vegas ends up on the hook for $40 million in guarantees. That will make him a free agent who can negotiate and sign with any team immediately, which historically has been a great place to be for most quarterbacks as accomplished as Carr. Some in the NFL are skeptical of how well he’ll do, however. 

“I am fascinated by Carr because I think he may be the first person who suffers from, ‘I am not paying a mediocre QB,’” an exec from a team with an established quarterback said via the Athletic’s Mike Sando. “I think Carr is more likely to be Nick Foles than Kirk Cousins. Foles got an OK deal with the Jags, but nothing earth-shattering even at the time. When you look at the landing spots, who is going to go pay Derek Carr $30 million?”

“That Garoppolo/Carr level of quarterback on the open market is going to be fascinating,” another exec said. “The top of the market is established at $40-50 million, and even some of the $40 million guys aren’t worth it. Then you have Kirk Cousins making $35 million, and he is going to be in the last year of his deal.”

Still, there are more quarterback-needy teams than available quarterbacks. One agent told Sando that what some executives say in February isn’t always what others do come March.