Broncos Hall-of-Famer Slams Sean Payton for Handling of Russell Wilson
The controversial nature of the Denver Broncos' decision to bench quarterback Russell Wilson continues to echo into the 2024 offseason. It turns out that former Broncos safety and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Brian Dawkins did not like how the team handled Wilson's demotion.
In comments provided by FOX News Digitial, 'Weapon X' didn't name Sean Payton, but Dawkins still ripped the head coach's leadership and treatment of Wilson.
"Absolutely poorly handled, absolutely," Dawkins said via FOX News Digital. "Once again, you talk about the leader of a team. The leader of a team is also the coach. How the coach then goes about doing things goes a long way into speaking to everybody on how they will be treated, or can be treated, at any given time."
If Dawkins had been a player in the Broncos locker room in December, he shared how he would have felt.
"As a player, there’s no way I want to see my quarterback being done the way Russell has been done and believing and trusting in that dude, ultimately, from a grand perspective, is what I’m talking about," Dawkins said. "So, to me, it was absolutely butchered the way that thing was handled and how Russell has been treated in that organization, especially by the head coach."
Perhaps this gives Broncos fans a window into how many in the locker room may have felt about Payton benching Wilson with two games left to go, inserting the journeyman Jarrett Stidham in what the head coach insisted was a football decision, though he always acknowledged the "economics" involved.
With an open locker room on Monday as players cleaned out their lockers, ESPN's Jeff Legwold was there and reported that the Wilson benching was "frustrating" to some players, with one anonymous player admitting he and others were "Pissed for Russ. Just pissed for Russ, a lot of us.'' Through his own words at his locker a week prior, we learned that veteran left tackle Garett Bolles was one of those frustrated players.
After 15 starts, Payton benched Wilson ahead of the Broncos' Week 17 tilt vs. the Los Angeles Chargers. A report followed shortly after the news that the Broncos had approached Wilson during the bye about renegotiating the injury guarantees on his contract, "threatening" to bench the quarterback if he didn't acquiesce.
Wilson went on to start the next seven games, winning four of them. However, it wasn't until after the Broncos lost back-to-back must-win contests to keep their playoff hopes alive that Wilson was ultimately benched.
Only a couple of days after the troubling report of the Broncos' alleged threat broke, Wilson stood at his locker and confirmed, at least from his perspective, that, indeed, he was given an ultimatum. As a 12th-year veteran, Wilson claimed he didn't feel comfortable removing the language in his contract that would guarantee his 2024 salary if he'd gotten injured during the 2023 season.
Meanwhile, the Broncos denied through reports that Wilson had been threatened. A leaked NFLPA letter addressed to the Broncos seemed to corroborate Wilson's claim, or at least the QB's perception that he was threatened by the team. Stidham closed out the season as Denver's starter, going 1-1 and failing to provide any palpable "spark" that Payton was looking for.
As to Dawkins' criticism of Payton and the Broncos, the decision was a sudden one that nobody saw coming, including the players in the locker room. Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy shared with Legwold how stunned he was by the news, and how quickly Payton turned the page in team meetings.
"It was a surprise to everybody in the locker room. He just told us out of nowhere," Jeudy said of Payton.
Cut to Tuesday at team headquarters, Payton held court for his end-of-season press conference, where he informed the local press corps with his opening statements that no further updates on the Wilson situation would be forthcoming in the days ahead. However, Payton did say that he plans to meet with GM George Paton and CEO Greg Penner to discuss the roster within the next two weeks.
Payton revealed that he met with Wilson for "half an hour" on Monday, where the coach told him the team's decision wouldn't be "a long, drawn-out process" and that Wilson would be the first to know.
Since arriving in Denver, Wilson has been pilloried at an unprecedented level, becoming a national lampoon of sorts. However, Wilson is a nine-time Pro Bowler and former Super Bowl champion, and Dawkins' comments clearly show that he still has cache, even among the most venerated players in NFL history.
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