Denver in the Mix for Sean Payton; Permission Granted by Saints

Jim Harbaugh has been a name frequently linked to the vacant head coach position with the Denver Broncos but there's another big name out there: former Saints head coach and Super Bowl winner Sean Payton.

Much like Harbaugh, Payton has been regarded as a top tier candidate for vacant head coaching gigs, with one caveat: he's still technically under contract with New Orleans. Any team that wants to hire him will need to compensate the Saints via trade, likely of draft picks. Those are something Denver doesn't have much of at the moment.

Payton stepped down as their head coach last January after fifteen years at the helm of the team, winning a championship in 2009. He currently works for Fox Sports and Sunday, confirmed that not only have the Broncos sought and received permission from the Saints to interview him, that he himself has spoken with Broncos ownership and will interview with the team when he's contractually available to after the 17th of January.

All this comes on the heels of a Broncos win over the Chargers to cap their season with an abysmal 5-12 record, but just a slight hint of optimism going into their offseason. After two weeks of much, much better football under interim Head Coach Jerry Rosburg and the potential of a shiny new, proven head coach arriving in Denver, Broncos fans have reason to look forward to next season as this one finishes.