We should all be so lucky to have someone come into our lives, professionally, like Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
When Payton sees something he likes in you, there’s a bond formed. Payton is loyal to “his people” and he doesn’t back off that. Players, assistant coaches and trainers all fall under that umbrella. That’s why we’ve seen plenty of people who were with Payton during his time as head coach of the New Orleans Saints make their way to Denver since he was hired in January 2023.
One shining example is defensive tackle Malcolm Roach, who played for Payton on the Saints in 2020 and 2021 and signed a 2-year, $7 million free agent contract with Denver before the 2024 season.
In his first year with the Broncos, Roach delivered career highs across the board with 43 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 5 TFL and 8 QB hits while playing in all 17 games for the first time in his career.
Even more impressive? Roach only started one game, the Broncos play a defense that only has one true interior defensive lineman on the field — usually D.J. Jones — and only played in 42 percent of Denver’s defensive snaps in 2024 as the Broncos finished third in the NFL in yards allowed and second in yards per carry.
In 2025, he gives the Broncos depth at a key position on what could be the NFL’s best defense. That could mean another career year and another big payday for one of the NFL’s most underrated defensive linemen.
“We had to stop the run better. How were we going to do that? We had some pieces in place,” general manager George Paton told The Denver Post’s Troy Renck. “But signing Malcolm Roach was a huge addition – it could’ve been our best addition in the offseason in free agency.”
Incredible Story of Roach’s HS Football Career
No story about Roach is complete without telling what happened the first time he played in a high school football game — when he was in the fifth grade.
As told to The Denver Post’s Ryan McFadden, Roach’s father, Mike, was the high school football coach at Southern Lab High in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and late in a blowout game his players essentially dared their coach to put his elementary school son on the field for one play.
At the time, Roach would suit up for games in a role more akin to a mascot than anything else.
In one of the most “The South Is Really Different” stories ever, head coach/dad acquiesced and put his son — a self described “little meatball” at 5-foot-6 and 160 pounds — on the field for one kickoff. He ended up on top of the tackle pile.
Undrafted to Making 53-Man Roster for Saints
After Roach went undrafted in 2020 out of the University of Texas, he signed with the Saints and made the 53-man roster out of training camp.
He stuck with New Orleans for 4 seasons but never played more than 40 percent of his team’s defensive snaps and only made 3 starts, with just 1.0 sack and 7 QB hits in that entire time.
