In case you missed it, the Denver Broncos and New York Giants faced off in a historic comeback effort by the Broncos on Sunday. Russell Wilson didn’t play a snap, but he featured heavily in the postgame narrative thanks to some snarky comments from Broncos head coach Sean Payton, whose dislike of Wilson is heavily documented. Here’s what happened and why these two are seemingly at each other’s throats.
Why Sean Payton hates Russell Wilson
As far as anyone can tell, there’s no specific reason that Sean Payton seemingly cannot stand Russell Wilson other than the fact that their pairing in 2022 and 2023 didn’t work out. Wilson was a superstar with the Seattle Seahawks, but his time there was up. The Denver Broncos, desperate for a Peyton Manning replacement (yes, even all those years later) made one of the biggest blockbuster trades for Wilson and then signed him to a massive extension. The move didn’t work out even slightly.
Also at that time, the Broncos convinced Payton to come out of retirement and coach them, even trading with the New Orleans Saints for Payton’s coaching rights (sending a first and second-round pick). Denver invested an incredible amount in this pairing, and it backfired.
Wilson was pretty awful in the first year in Denver. Payton, a renowned floor-raiser as a coach, could do little with him. In year two, things got significantly better, but the relationship had soured. Despite solid QB play and an outside shot at a playoff berth, Payton benched Wilson.
Wilson, in 2023, had just over 3,000 yards in 15 games, and he paired 26 touchdown passes with only eight interceptions. Yet, Payton disliked Wilson so much that he essentially passed on a playoff spot to bench him. Then, the Broncos released Wilson and incurred the biggest dead cap hit in NFL history just to move on. During that time, it seems that Payton developed a lifelong burning hatred for Wilson, and even now, he’s not letting it go.
What Sean Payton, Russell Wilson said about one another
Fast forward to Sunday, and things are still very testy between the two. After the historic win by Denver, Sean Payton gave opposing QB Jaxson Dart his flowers while delivering a devastating and unnecessary criticism of Russell Wilson.
Wilson was the initial starter before the Giants gave their first-round pick a shot, and he’s played fairly well with it. Payton said after the game, “You know, they found a little spark with that quarterback,” Payton said postgame Sunday in reference to Dart. “I was talking to [Giants owner] John Mara not too long ago, and I said, ‘We were hoping that that change would have happened long after our game.’”
That’s clearly a dig at Wilson, as Payton had hoped he’d have the perceived easier matchup against the supposedly worse quarterback in Wilson. Dart really gave them a run for their money, but the Broncos coach had hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He may have also hoped he could use his vaunted pass rush to make life awful for Wilson, but that didn’t transpire, either. None of it sat right with the quarterback, who took to social media to hit.
“Classless… but not surprised….Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media,” he wrote. This is a reference to Payton’s infamous Bountygate scandal in which he and the Saints were paying defenders to injure opponents. Wilson is likening his continued attacks on the QB to that. It will be interesting to see what Payton, who is famously petty and doesn’t keep comments to himself very often, says in response to this one.
