Broncos HC Sean Payton Breaks Silence on Viral Draft Rumor
The week leading up to the Super Bowl is always a great landscape to get an interesting insight into what happened during the regular season. Hundreds of media members set up shop to interview dozens of coaches, front office executives, current and former players alike, and other media members who share their stories.
On Friday, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton sat down with Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio to discuss what happened with the Broncos this season. Schein wasted little time putting Payton on the spot, going directly into the Russell Wilson contract conflict that ended up with the former star quarterback being benched for the season's final two games.
"Yeah, I mean, it is business," Payton said. "Ultimately, the one thing I would say is this. We have a great relationship (Wilson) and I. And there is that element of, well, that wasn't who we wanted. Everything and every ounce of our energy at the start of this was, 'what are the things that we feel like he does best for us offensively?' Ultimately, we got to a stretch where we just felt like we wanted to look at Stidham. Honestly, we felt like we needed to spark offensively. We won one game, and we lost one game nonetheless. But I think that's part of it today. I mean, that the noise and the criticism and all those other things? It is what it is."
The business side of the NFL is brutal, especially when it comes to underperforming players on high-priced contracts. Wilson may have had a solid 26-to-8 touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio, but the timing and rhythm of the offense were lacking throughout the season. Denver's offense often sputtered, especially coming out of halftime.
Wilson's contract is written in a way that makes his $50 million salary in 2025 guarantee on the fifth day of the 2024 league year, and the Broncos approached Wilson multiple times to renegotiate that specific parameter to allow themselves more financial wiggle room moving forward. Wilson didn't agree to the terms and eventually went to the NFL Players Association for assistance in resolving the matter.
Wilson would go on to start a few more games following the negotiation – which occurred during the team's bye week – before eventually being sat down for Stidham. That decision was met with massive scrutiny all across the NFL landscape, leading to rumors flying about Wilson being done in Denver after two up-and-down campaigns.
Tied to those rumors came another interesting series of reports claiming that the Broncos were interested in trading up in the 2024 NFL draft, particularly for one of the top quarterbacks. While anything is still possible, there is a long way to go in the scouting process both at the NFL and collegiate levels.
In another radio row sit-down with Kay Adams of the Up and Adams Show, Payton addressed the rumors of the Broncos gearing up to make a big draft play for a QB.
“Listen, we start Monday with the front board meetings,” Payton explained. “What I mean by that is that those are the draft meetings, so anything that people have said or commented about or heard about trades – I can't tell you the jersey number of these rookie quarterbacks yet. We start Monday on it, right? So how on earth are we going to (trade up to) number one or going back to five or six? So the front board meetings take place. The free agency meetings are ongoing right now. We look closely at where these pieces are, you know here are the musts, needs, and wants. And then when you ask the question about Russ, that factors in. Is it possible for us to do this, this, and this or not, and I think that decision will be sooner than later. He'll no sooner than later.”
Based on what Payton has said over the past few months, the door is still open for Wilson to remain in Denver. While that seems like a very unlikely scenario given the complexity of the Broncos's salary cap situation, it appears that the Broncos haven't truly made that decision as of this point.
In my opinion, Wilson is as good as gone. The sideline tirades that Payton displayed throughout the season, including the screaming match during the Detroit Lions game, tell me everything I need to know about the situation.
The question is, who will be the new franchise quarterback for the boys in orange and blue?
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