Sean Payton reveals how Peyton Manning is still helping the Denver Broncos

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Minutes after the Denver Broncos drafted Bo Nix, Peyton Manning shot a text to the new Bronco.

Shortly after Zach Wilson was traded to the Broncos, No. 18 reached out to Wilson.

Just months after Denver drafted Drew Lock, the rookie was watching film with the Hall-of-Fame quarterback.

Peyton Manning doesn’t have an official title with the Broncos. But he’s very much still helping his team.

“He’s a great resource,” Sean Payton stated on Friday night, after Day 2 of the NFL draft wrapped up.

Once Manning walked off into the Orange & Blue sunset as Super Bowl 50 Champion, Broncos Country begged him to return in any form or fashion.

When there was a coaching vacancy, Denver wanted Manning to fill it. When John Elway moved on from the general manager role, the Mile High City wanted Manning to call the shots. And when the team was put up for sale, the entire state of Colorado cried for No. 18 to buy the Broncos.

While none of those options came to fruition, at least so far, Manning is still very much helping the Denver Broncos.

“I mean, it’s huge. To have someone like that here who is close to the organization, I think it’s great for all of our players and everyone in the organization,” George Paton said glowingly about Manning’s tight relationship with the team. “He comes by all the time. We have dinner. It’s outstanding. Pick his brain.”

“Sometimes you wonder, ‘How does he have time?’ Meaning, those are just a couple of examples,” Sean Payton jumped in and added to the general manager’s comment. “Something will happen and Archie [Manning] will send a text. Peyton — he’s always thinking. I think when he watches an NBA game and he sees something, it’s one of those unique traits that he has.”

When it comes to helping Broncos quarterbacks, well, Manning’s impact is even greater.

“Especially for a quarterback, someone like Peyton — his status, legend, he has his camp, and I think Bo went to his camp,” Paton said about Manning’s impact on Denver’s quarterbacks. “Obviously, he knows all of the quarterbacks.”

Not only does Peyton reach out to Denver’s new quarterbacks, he reaches out to Sean about the team’s new signal callers.

“He sent me a text after Zach and then after Bo,” Payton revealed. “He’s always been like three steps ahead.”

Peyton Manning doesn’t have an official title with the Broncos. But he continues to help the only NFL team that he chose to play for in his career.