Former Broncos QB Claims Payton is 'The Perfect Guy' for Wilson

Rebuilding Russell Wilson will be mission-critical for the Denver Broncos in 2023. Any chance the Broncos have of becoming competitively relevant again hinges on Wilson's big regression season being an outlier and not a sign of things to come.

Enter Sean Payton.

The Broncos made Payton their 20th head coach all time, and not only was he widely viewed as the top candidate on the market, but he represented the team's best chance to turn Wilson's ship around. That's how NBC Sports' Chris Simms categorized it in a sit-down with Aric DiLalla of the team website.

"Sean Payton, for my money, is, of course, one of the best head coaches we've seen in football in the last 20 years, let alone — without a doubt — one of the best offensive minds we've seen in football the last 20 years, maybe ever," Simms said. "He's up in that discussion as an all-time great mind... I think it's a match made in heaven, and I really think he's the perfect guy for not only the Broncos, but Russell Wilson, too."

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Wilson took so many steps backward in Year 1 as a Bronco, due, in large part, to the coaching incompetence around him, that you might wonder where Payton should even start. As a former quarterback himself, and an ex-Bronco to boot (2009), Simms has an idea of what Payton's square one will be with Wilson.

"I think the big thing is—and this gets lost in the shuffle with great athletes and players sometimes—is kind of rebuilding the confidence," Simms told DiLalla. "You've got to start there. Superstar athletes are not different than [people] like you and me, where they can get down on themselves. Part of the reason a lot of them are very good [is] because they're very self-critical. So then you get piled on by everybody else and you start to doubt yourself a little. I think he's got to kind of rebuild the machine of him and show him some old highlights of himself."

It sounds like a logical starting point for Payton. The Broncos' new head coach won't be able to get his hands on Wilson until early April.

While many Broncos fans want to lean into the wave of Payton optimism, people are a little more reluctant this time around to get too far out over their skis. After all the hype and elevated expectations of 2022 resulted in Denver delving down into even deeper corners of the NFL doldrums, Broncos Country is somewhat traumatized.

It's understandable. But Simms is right about Payton's resume and reputation. He's one of the best coaches of his era. And he's now calling the shots in the Mile High City.

Wilson also offered some signs of hope to close out the 2022 campaign, after the in-over-his-head Nathaniel Hackett had been fired, punctuating the botched season with two near-classic performances. Payton noticed Wilson's improvements, too, in those final two games, once Hackett's long shadow of incompetence had been blown out of Denver.

But there's no guarantee that Payton will be able to conjure some Mile High Magic relative to Wilson. I like the offensive innovator's odds, but there are few absolutes in football when it comes to prognosticating the future. However, Simms' answer on whether Payton can glean a vintage Wilson performance in 2023 should encourage Broncos Country.

"I would be shocked if we're sitting here next year going—you're coming here to talk to me—and we're going, 'Man, Russ had another rough year. What's wrong?' I really would be," Simms told DiLalla. "One, knowing the character of Russell Wilson, the man — he doesn't back down from anything. He's going to attack it and work. I think that's the first thing, and then we've seen him be really great before. It's there. It's in him. He's getting up there in age a little bit, but not at a point where you're concerned or he goes, 'Oh, he's going to have to be a totally different football player.' With that group of receivers, the running back. I keep telling everybody, I would be shocked if the first big free agent signing [isn't] some big offensive lineman. Sean Payton, [who is] from the Bill Parcells school of coaching and New Orleans, I think he'll go there. I've got too much faith in Russell Wilson."

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