ENGLEWOOD, Colo — Sean Payton has such an affinity for Adam Trautman, he once traded the entire backend of his NFL Draft to acquire him.
In 2020, Payton’s New Orleans Saints packaged all their remaining draft picks, in the fourth-, fifth-, sixth- and seventh-round selections and sent them to the Minnesota Vikings for the rights to select the Dayton tight end with the second-to-last pick in the third round, No. 105 overall. Even if the Saints later made a trade with Houston so they could take quarterback Tommy Stevens late in the seventh round of the 2020 draft, let there be no doubt they pushed all their Day 3 draft chips in for Trautman.
(Little known fact: The Trautman draft trade was a Payton and Paton swap. Payton’s Saints made the trade with George Paton, who was then the Vikings’ assistant general manager. George Paton is now the Broncos’ general manager while Sean Payton is the Broncos’ head coach.)
Besides helping to spike the draft’s late second-day television ratings, the haul surrendered by the Saints may have raised eyebrows. For while Trautman is a solid two-way tight end who blocks as well as he catches, he has not drawn comparisons to, say, Hall of Famer Kellen Winslow.
Payton’s fondness for Trautman continued this offseason as he acquired him again, this time for far less compensation (a sixth rounder to the Saints in exchange for the Saints’ 7th round pick) so they could be reunited with the Denver Broncos.
Trautman has rewarded his head coach’s confidence by playing in 80 percent of the snaps through 11 games this season. Trautman has been especially big in the receiving game of late. Trautman had two catches for 19 and 14 yards on back-to-back plays in the final seconds of the first half that led to a field goal and three significant points last week in a 21-20 Sunday night win against Minnesota.
He then played 91 percent of the offensive snaps Sunday in a 29-12 win against Cleveland. No snap led to a better result than Trautman’s sitting, 8-yard touchdown catch just inside the end zone boundary that gave the Broncos an insurmountable 24-12 lead in the fourth quarter.
“You know exactly what you’re getting,’’ Payton said of Trautman during his day-after-game Zoom conference call with reporters Monday. “I think he has a good feel in zone coverage. I think he’s a good blocker. I think he’s smart.
“We drafted him out of Dayton (thanks to a Day 3 package of picks). We kind of knew exactly what we were getting, and there’s something to be said for that. Sometimes when you’re game planning and putting together a plan, what can be frustrating is if you don’t know what you’re getting week-to-week from a player.
“I was pleased. His pitch count was higher yesterday and not as high a few weeks back. The catch he made was important. He’s a smart player. We’re glad we have him.’’
Trautman has needed patience as a pass catcher this season. He has 16 catches for 125 yards through 11 games, which shows he’s blocked way more than he’s run routes. But those catches the past two weeks have been huge.
“If we’re winning I don’t care,” Trautman said after the game Sunday of his limited receiving stats. “I could care less. I do what I’m asked. Obviously with Greg (Dulcich) out I’ve got to play several different roles but that’s why I’m here.”
Praise for Bolles
When a team has won five in a row, as the Broncos have, many players are playing well, perhaps none more so than Garett Bolles. The seventh-year left tackle did a nice job Sunday of containing Browns’ star pass rusher Myles Garrett, who entered the game with an league-leading 13.0 sacks – and left the game tied for second with the Chargers’ Khalil Mack, and behind the 13.5 by new league-leader T.J. Watt of the Steelers.
“Man, he played his butt off yesterday,’’ Payton said of Bolles. “Had a tough assignment. We knew that was going to be a challenge. He was going up against one of the better defensive players. To his credit, when we watched the tape, man, he battled. We did a handful of things over there to help slow down Myles. (Bolles is) experienced, he’s athletic. The chemistry of that (offensive line) room has really changed and it’s really been an asset for our club.”
Texans logo coming to Dove Valley
As he did for his game at Buffalo three weeks ago, when the Bills’ logo was painted on his two practice fields, Payton said the Texans’ blue-and-red, abstract bull’s head Texans’ logo would be placed on the Broncos’ practice fields this week as part of the team’s preparation for the game Sunday morning (11 a.m. MST) in Houston.
“We’re playing on the road (against) a team that’s young and talented,’’ Payton said.
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