At 62, and with nearly two decades of head coaching experience, Sean Payton remains one of the most respected figures in the NFL. At the same time, though, the Denver Broncos head coach has also long carried the reputation of being outspoken, something that has occasionally created controversy around him over the years. And after the league officially released the 2026 NFL schedule, radio host Colin Cowherd, who has openly been a strong supporter of Payton, suggested the NFL may have “punished” the veteran coach because of that outspoken personality.

“I’m not a conspiracy guy, but I believe this. I think Sean Payton has a mixed relationship with the league office,” Cowherd said while analyzing the Broncos’ schedule. “He’s taken shots at quarterbacks. He’s taken shots at coaches. NFL does not like friendly fire. Zip it. Look at Denver schedule. They’re punishing them. The first six games, that’s the toughest six-game schedule I have ever seen in my life.”

After revealing that the Broncos would open the 2026 season on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL later unveiled the rest of Denver’s schedule. And on paper, the opening stretch certainly looks brutal.

Take a look:

• Week 1: Road game against the Chiefs
• Week 2: Home game against the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars
• Week 3: Home game against the NFC runner-up Los Angeles Rams
• Week 4: Road game against the San Francisco 49ers
• Week 5: Road game against the Los Angeles Chargers
• Week 6: Thursday Night Football matchup against the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks

From there, the schedule noticeably softens. But Cowherd’s larger argument was that the NFL could have easily inserted at least one manageable opponent somewhere during that opening stretch.

“They could have thrown an Arizona game in there, a Panthers game in there. They could have thrown a Steelers game in there, the Raider game in there. Nope.”

However, many of those opponents actually appear later on Denver’s schedule. Following the Week 6 showdown against Seattle, the Broncos are set to face the Arizona Cardinals, Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, Las Vegas Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and the Raiders again over the next several weeks, while closing the season facing the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, and the Chargers.

And it is also worth remembering that Denver enters this difficult stretch with Bo Nix recovering from injury. Earlier this year, Nix helped lead the Broncos to the AFC Championship Game after eliminating the Bills in the playoffs. But during that postseason run, the quarterback suffered a fractured right ankle and ultimately missed the conference title game.

Although Nix is currently expected to return in time for Week 1 against Kansas City, there is still uncertainty around whether he will immediately return to peak form. Which is why Cowherd’s frustration over Denver’s opening schedule becomes easier to understand.

At the same time, though, the radio host believes Payton’s outspoken reputation may have played a role in why the NFL handed the Broncos such a brutal start to the 2026 season.

When the NFL actually punished Sean Payton

Sean Payton has been an NFL head coach since 2006, winning a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints before later taking over the Broncos. But during a head coaching career that has now stretched nearly two decades, Payton has also found himself involved in several major controversies. The biggest one came back in 2011 during the infamous “Bountygate scandal.”

The NFL concluded that from 2009 through 2011, Saints players and staff operated a system that rewarded defensive players for hits on opposing players. According to league findings, Payton was aware of the allegations, failed to stop the system, and later participated in covering it up. As a result, the NFL suspended him for the entire 2012 season, making him the first modern-era NFL head coach suspended for a full year.

Years later, though, Payton openly criticized the way the league handled the situation. He called Bountygate a “sham” and accused the NFL office of pushing misleading narratives through the media. But that was far from the only time Payton publicly challenged the league.

For a broader context, Payton has repeatedly criticized NFL officiating throughout his career as well. One notable example came during the 2017 season while he was still coaching the Saints. In a game against the Atlanta Falcons, referee Clete Blakeman’s crew penalized Payton after he ran onto the field toward field judge Joe Larrew with just 1:05 remaining.

At the time, Atlanta was facing third down. But after the penalty on Payton, the Falcons received an automatic first down and effectively ran out the clock. To make matters worse from New Orleans’ perspective, 11 of Atlanta’s 26 first downs in that game came through penalties. Afterward, Payton publicly blasted the officiating and called the decision “extremely poor.”

Despite the controversies, though, Payton has still remained one of the league’s most respected coaches for years. But after the NFL released the Broncos’ brutal opening stretch for the 2026 season, the conversation around his outspoken reputation suddenly resurfaced again, especially after Colin Cowherd suggested the league may have “punished” Denver because of Payton’s history with the NFL office.