They say that everybody knows everybody in the NFL, and that’s true, to an extent. Coaches and players rotate so often, that after a while, it really does seem like everyone at one point has worked with everyone else.

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been tight with Dan Campbell for years. He was the quarterbacks coach of the New York Giants when the team drafted Campbell in 1999, and he also hired Campbell as an assistant 17 years later with the New Orleans Saints.

During the NFL’s annual spring meeting Monday (March 27), Payton had glowing things to say about Campbell. He’s very happy for the coach’s success. Call it a BFF moment.

“I felt like we watched like some of the toughest games for Detroit there for a stretch and it was great to see that turn,” Payton said. “We’ve seen a 60-some-yard field goal bounce off the crossbar. I mean, you lose track of the different ways, but he epitomizes grit and toughness.”

Campbell and Payton have a long history together. Campbell played for Payton on three teams: the Giants, Saints and Dallas Cowboys. He also worked five years under him as an assistant.

Back when the Lions hired Campbell in 2021, he said (via the Detroit Free Press), “I owe Sean probably more than anybody in this profession.”

“He gave me an opportunity as a player and as a coach, and nobody’s believed in me more than Sean Payton, who knew exactly what I was and what I could do,” Campbell added at the time. “So I’ll never be able to thank him enough. I’ve learned more football under him in my time as a player, but now as a coach, being under him five years, about how you see the game, how you use your staff, how you hire your staff, situational football. When to go for it, when to not, when’s it time to be aggressive, when’s the time to back off. But a majority of the lessons that I have are from him, and so I’ll forever be grateful for that.”