One of the more dramatic NFL stories of the last 12 months has been the dicey relationship between Sean Payton and Russell Wilson, which ultimately led to a messy divorce and the Denver Broncos eating the largest dead cap hit in NFL history.
Since then, the two sides have slung a lot mud at each other through different media sources, but that beef seemed to be settling down as we neared the 2024 season.
That’s no longer the case, as the latest detail — which seems very likely to have been linked from Coach Payton’s camp — about the tandem’s relationship is pretty damning and offers a further glimpse into why the two sides ultimately decided to go their separate ways.
“He was constantly climbing out of the back of the pocket,” CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala said, in an interview with The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show. “He struggled with snap counts. He couldn’t manage or handle the play-calling. They went from putting a wristband on [him] to, by the end of the season, all the play calls had to be two words and everybody else was required to know what the play calls were.”
That is a shocking revelation.
If true, it means that Coach Payton was having to hold Wilson’s hand more than one would expect he would have to hold Bo Nix’s. It also would help explain the extreme limitations that the Broncos’ offense suffered from a season ago.
Kinkhabwala didn’t leave it there though, and her next statement might have been even more damning, although more vague.
“There is a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very valid reason that Sean Payton, who is one of the best quarterback coaches and best offensive minds in our game — who has had success not just with Drew Brees, but with Jameis Winston, with Teddy Bridgewater — is saying I’m going to pay this guy millions upon millions of dollars to be nowhere near my locker room.”
It’s clear the quarterbacking has been pretty shaky these past two seasons and beyond. Hopefully, Bo Nix can right the ship.
