I'm just a tad skeptical the value of comparing Sean Payton to Urban Meyer or Nathaniel Hackett in anything NFL head coaching-related.
Good point.
Most coaches do their assessments and keep them to themselves, though. Payton didn't here. What does that tell us? Maybe nothing, but it seems he volunteers too much here to ignore totally. Perhaps Dulcich is all that and has the year of his life. Perhaps he's a third-round TE who is easily replaced by a new staff.
We'll see.
It's clear that Dulcich's skillset is not a perfect fit for the run-focused scheme Payton is building. But Payton also has a solid reputation of finding ways to take advantage of unique talents that create mismatches (e.g. Kamara, Graham, Taysom Hill).
My money is on Payton recognizing Dulcich's obvious talents and adapting his scheme to exploit them...not impulsively jettisoning a second year TE simply because he doesn't rigidly "fit" an offensive system or some "big ego" rationale.
Payton has been openly critical of most of what went on last year with the Broncos. He's also publicly got Sutton/Jeudy on the trading block...and we all know they aren't going anywhere if a deal can't be done.
So IMO the Dulcich comments are much more consistent with other "shot-across-the-bow things need to improve here" statements Payton has made than a death knell for a specific player.
How 'bout now, that he traded for Trautman, a guy he drafted early 3rd in '20?
A guy that started his college career as a QB, and ended as the Offensive Player of the Year in his conference (uncommon at TE, no matter the level)? 6'5", 255, btw, just fyi.
It could be that Payton wants both because they never got a targeted OL to drop to them, who knows, but I think it's safe to say Payton definitely likes Trautman and the kid is not just some blocking TE, with those stats he put up in college.
You have to be worried about Dulcic's numbers, in lieu of Payton's affinity for Trautman.