Payton has seen players flip their practice squad decisions, though.

After he was waived by Washington in 2009, then-rookie quarterback Chase Daniel was nearly set to join the team’s practice squad. Then Payton called from the New Orleans Saints.

“Certainly, we can call the agent and try to convince him,” Payton said Tuesday. “Once the player has gotten familiar with the defense and the offense, [it’s hard]. We had one situation [that] came up. Chase Daniel was at Washington. He had been released, and was getting ready to sign a practice squad agreement with Washington. We had talked with the agent. Chase, there was something about… I think he was maybe hoping if it was possible to come to us, but then there had to be some throw-ins. At one point, I was on the phone with him and he was just outside the head coach’s office. I said, ‘Just leave the building.’ He said, ‘Well…’ I said, ‘Chase, just leave the building. We’ll get you to the active roster at least three games. You’re going to be…’ To his credit, he just left the building. That’s harder to do.”

Daniel reacted to Payton telling that story on his Twitter/X page earlier this week:

Daniel signed with the Saints’ practice squad after leaving D.C. One year later, Daniel dressed for 13 games, and he dressed for all 16 games in 2011 and 2012. The Broncos did not poach any players from other teams this year, but getting Ehlinger to stick around was a huge win. Payton’s reputation for his success with quarterbacks has undoubtedly helped the coach with his recruiting over the years.