Mike Macdonald's 'Cold War' Bombshell Adds Fuel to Broncos-Seahawks

According to Mike Macdonald, a "cold war" has been brewing between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, and it's set to culminate in a kinetic on-field battle in Week 6.

Seattle's Super Bowl-winning head coach recently opened up to Graham Bensinger about something that's been bubbling between Macdonald and Broncos head coach Sean Payton since 2024. In Macdonald's first year as Seahawks head coach, he drew Payton and the Broncos in Seattle to kick off the season.

The Seahawks prevailed over the Broncos 26-20 in what was also rookie Bo Nix's first career start. It turns out, though, that Macdonald admitted to using some legal football espionage to give the Seahawks an advantage, and one so evident to Payton that his only conclusion was that Seattle was cheating and taping Denver's training camp practices somehow.

What Seattle actually did was scour X (formerly Twitter) for video footage of the Broncos' training camp practices captured and posted by fans in attendance. Macdonald admitted that the Seahawks took "100 plays" from those videos to add to their scouting portfolio of the Broncos that week.

So much for the Broncos giving Seattle "unscouted looks" in the season opener. Even with a rookie quarterback making his NFL debut, the Seahawks knew what was coming thanks to the 100 videos.

It may be legal. But ethical? We report, you decide.

Payton's Response

Mike Macdonald and John Schneider — Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald and GM John Schneider. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When Payton finally caught wind of it, Macdonald says he called Seahawks GM John Schneider and threatened to expose them.

"So he got wind of it, and he lost it," Macdonald said of Payton to Bensinger. "And it's the middle of the season, and we won the game, and we were in the fight our first year... And so he called John. He basically threatened to come out publicly and do a whole Patriots Spygate type of thing. And I'm sitting there like, 'Oh my God.' I'm like, 'We didn't cheat.'"

Macdonald claims they had to threaten to sue Payton if he went public with his accusations.

"So we had to counter with him to say, 'Hey, look, if you come out with this, we're going to sue you because it's not true,'" Macdonald said.

Mutually Assured Destruction

Sean Payton hollers from the sideline. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Nothing came of it. Payton didn't go public.

But it created a "cold war" type of animosity between the Broncos and Seahawks, not unlike the threat of mutually assured destruction between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 20th century, when both countries had a finger hovering over the big red button.

Payton was so adamant that even Schneider may have been a bit shaken about the accusation, though Macdonald's protestations eventually convinced Seattle's general manager that they weren't illegally videotaping Broncos practices. The "cold war" stretched on for a while, with Payton threatening to go public and Seattle threatening to sue him if he did.

"So the season ends, and he let it go, but it was like the Cold War," Macdonald told Bensinger. "He's like, 'I'm going to hit the button. I'm going to hit the button.' And we're like, 'Well, we're going to hit the button.' So none of us hit the button."

Tough Guy Stuff

Macdonald went on to claim that he somehow intimidated Payton when they crossed paths at the NFL Combine after he'd returned from a run. Get a load of this.

"And so then I went for a run at the Combine, and I'm literally getting out of the elevator at the Marriott there in Indy, and as soon as I open the door, at the floor that I'm at, here he comes in," Macdonald said of Payton. "And I was kind of over him, and he's like, 'Hey, Coach,' and totally backed down in the moment. I was like, 'Oh, man.'"

What did Macdonald expect, a fist fight? Real classy, Coach.

Payton is much smarter than that. As evidenced by last week's 20-13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Payton plays the long game, and when it's time to serve up sweet revenge, he prefers to do so cold.

The Takeaway

For Broncos fans wondering why the cell phone restrictions were so heavy at training camp, now you know. Payton had good reason to be extremely cautious about any filming taking place that the Broncos could not control.

This "cold war" between the Broncos and Seahawks only further illustrates how badly the Football Fates robbed the NFL of its rightful Super Bowl last year. Alas, Nix suffered a freak ankle fracture in the divisional round, and the Broncos had to play Jarrett Stidham against the New England Patriots, who hadn't taken a snap since 2023.

That's all water under the bridge now. The Broncos are looking to make up for lost time, though.

The "cold war" will turn kinetic when the Broncos will host the Seahawks in Week 6 on Thursday Night Football. It'll be interesting to hear what Payton has to say about Macdonald's revelations when he hits the podium on Wednesday.

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