NFL rumors: Is Rex Ryan really coming back to AFC West?

Nothing like bringing back old coaching ghosts for the Denver Broncos in 2023, right?

Credit the Denver Broncos with this much: they’re open to any new (or old) idea in 2023. They’ve fired another head coach after a single season: They’ve convinced Sean Payton to return to the sidelines after some time away. Now they might be getting into the old coaching ghosts game once again, this time with a name we haven’t seen on the sidelines in quite some time in Rex Ryan.

There was a time when Rex Ryan was synonymous with a strong defense. And feet. There was also the foot thing. This is back when Geno Smith was a rookie quarterback and not Comeback Player of the Year.

Ryan hasn’t coached anyone anywhere doing anything since 2016—or since Patrick Mahomes was a junior at Texas Tech. George Karlaftis was still too young to get his learner’s permit. We could go on and on, but the point is that such a hire would be crazy, right? As much as the league has changed, a team can’t really chase an aging analyst, can they?

As it turns out, they can. Because when you’re division rivals with the Kansas City Chiefs and you’ve not won a single matchup since the year before Rex Ryan was fired by the Buffalo Bills, you’re willing to try anything and everything to make it work.

Ryan is certainly not a done deal here. Vance Joseph is also applying and there could be other names. However, it’s quite interesting to see Ryan make it this far. Maybe he can see if some of his players wanna return too, like Antonio Cromartie or Darrelle Revis or Calvin Pace.