Sean Payton's True Opinion on Russell Wilson Leaked by Insider
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As the Denver Broncos undergo a search for another head coach, many in local and national media have promulgated the trope that quarterback Russell Wilson is somehow a liability. The idea being that he was so bad in Year 1 with the Broncos that Wilson would scare off the elite head-coaching candidates in the 2023 hiring cycle.
While none are privy to the conversations the Broncos are having with these coaches during their interviews, one report from The Washington Post's Mark Maske sheds light on how at least one coveted candidate views the prospect of working with Wilson.
"The Broncos appear to be the front-runner for Sean Payton, at least in the early stages of the process. Payton likes the franchise's stable ownership and would be happy to work with Russell Wilson, source says," Maske tweeted on Thursday.
Let's not forget, Wilson and Payton are acquainted. Not only did Wilson compete against Payton's New Orleans Saints over his decade in Seattle, but he was also coached by him at the Pro Bowl.
“I've been around Sean, obviously at the Pro Bowl," Wilson said last Sunday. "I’ve been around him across the league and I’ve played against them quite a bit. He's one of the world's best, obviously, a guy who has coached a Hall of Fame quarterback in Drew Brees, who's one of my closest friends and the guy that [I] got to know across the league and so many other great players. He's competitive as can be, he's a winner and obviously won a Super Bowl, and then at the highest level, I was able to be around him at the Pro Bowl and just the wizardry that you would have on the field was just magnificent."
Payton has plenty of experience and lots of success coaching a 'shorter' quarterback, too. Brees is barely 6-feet tall, but built that Hall-of-Fame career by navigating the pocket and picking his throwing lanes, through and over his offensive line, with precision. Wilson is 5-foot-11.
Payton looks at Wilson and likely bases his opinion on the vast body of work that a decade-plus in the NFL provides. Wilson tied Peyton Manning's rookie record for passing touchdowns, then went on to lead the Seattle Seahawks to two consecutive Super Bowl berths, winning one, and when the Broncos acquired him via trade, he was a 10-year veteran with nine Pro Bowl selections.
That's what a coach like Payton, and Jim Harbaugh, is focused on. This isn't to dismiss Wilson's alarming regression in 2022, but juxtaposed with the coaching incompetence that not-so-coincidentally left Denver when Nathaniel Hackett was fired, a guy like Payton likely views it as an outlier. The exception that proves the rule.
Wilson also sent a big message to the Broncos and any future head coach by punctuating his disappointing season with two very strong performances to end the 2022 campaign. Payton says he'd be "happy" to coach the 34-year-old Wilson.
Believe him.
The Broncos will hold an in-person interview with Payton on Tuesday in Los Angeles. .
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