Sean Payton era is off to a humiliating start for the Denver Broncos

There is a very real chance that history is going to look back at the past two years of Denver Broncos transactions and view them as a franchise-altering set of incompetence. 

The blockbuster trade for quarterback Russell Wilson last offseason has already looked like a bust and they followed it up this offseason by trading multiple draft picks to the New Orleans Saints to get head coach Sean Payton.

The Broncos are not only off to an 0-3 start through Payton's first three games, the latest of those losses on Sunday was one of the most humiliating defeats in the modern era of the NFL, with the Broncos dropping a 70-20 decision to the Miami Dolphins.

There is no way to sugarcoat this, that is an embarrassing showing by the Broncos across the board.

Miami is an outstanding team, Denver is clearly a very flawed team that is a work in progress. But no NFL team should lose by 50 points while giving up 70 in any game. 

That can not happen. 

Denver allowed Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to complete 23-of-26 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns and then when he got the rest of the afternoon off Mike White came in and completed both of his passes for 67 yards and a fifth passing touchdown.

All of those passing yards had to go to somebody and Tyreek Hill led the way for Miami with 157 of them. 

As if that was not enough, Denver also allowed a 200-yard rusher in De'Von Achane and 350 yards rushing total. 

The worst part of this for Denver? Miami didn't even have one of its best playmakers in wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. 

If you are a Broncos fan you cannot possibly be feeling good about any of this, especially given the price the front office paid to acquire both Wilson and Payton.

The two trades ended up costing Denver three first-round picks, three second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive lineman Shelby Harris.

That return does not even get into the actual dollars Denver paid for the duo, costing them nearly $67 million per year. 

This is like the anti-Herschel Walker trade. The Broncos hitched their wagon to the Wilson-Payton duo and the early returns on both of them are horrible.