It never seemed like it would be long before we saw Sean Payton back in the NFL. Some people just can’t stay away. After a full season of sitting on his hands on Fox’s kickoff show, Payton got the coaching itch again and interviewed for a number of opportunities in the NFL, including a position with the Denver Broncos – his eventual landing spot.
As with most coaching roles that need to be filled,, there’s plenty of work to be done in Denver, with a healthy dose of emphasis on Russell Wilson and what happens at the quarterback position moving forward.
The hiring of Payton will ultimately be viewed as a move to help Wilson get back on track – and it might – but there’s more at play here beyond just salvaging Wilson.
Payton has been one of the NFL’s great offensive minds during his coaching career. Between 2010 and 2021, the Saints were third in EPA/play on offense (0.088) per RBSDM. His impact goes back further than that, though.
Payton and Drew Brees formed one of the best coach and quarterback duos in NFL history, with the absolute peak coming in 2009 when the Saints won the Super Bowl. There were a few down seasons, post-Bountygate, but for the most part, the Saints always had one of the best offenses in the league with Payton and Brees.
It’s easy to connect the dots ast to why the Broncos brought Payton in. Their first season with Russell Wilson under center was an abject failure – one of the biggest we’ve seen considering the assets it took to trade for Wilson and then the money it took to extend him.
Wilson had the worst year of his career, completing just 60 percent of his passes for 3524 yards and 16 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. Out of 31 quarterbacks with at least 320 pass attempts in 2022, Wilson ranked 25th in EPA/play.
Everything that made Russell Wilson who he is, the play action shots, the mobility, and his willingness and ability to extend plays felt neutralized. Instead, we saw an inaccurate, poor decision-maker, and a noticeably slower version of Wilson. Whatever Russ was cooking just didn’t taste right. The fit with Nathaniel Hackett was never quite there either, and Hackett was fired after 15 games in charge of the Broncos.
Firing Hackett was the easier, markedly cheaper choice than moving on from Wilson. The quarterback is still in the infancy of a 5-year $242 million contract and cutting ties isn’t a realistic option until at least the end of the 2025 season, when Wilson will be 37 years old.
If the Broncos were to move on from him today, it would leave them with a dead cap charge of $107 million – almost half the 2023 salary cap. So, expect to see Wilson in a Broncos uniform for a little while longer.
Payton’s hire could rekindle something lost in Wilson. After all, this is the coach that had Teddy Bridgewater take the Saints on a 5-0 run and look as good as he’s ever looked while Brees was out. He also turned Jameis Winston from an interception machine into one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL in 2021 before an injury cut his season short. There aren’t many coaches with that sort of Midas touch. If there was ever a time to exert his wisdom onto a fledgling quarterback – it would be now.
That’s partly why the Broncos brought Payton in. Even if he wasn’t their first choice. But it can’t be the be all and end all reason. Coaching an NFL team isn’t just about making sure the situation is right for the quarterback. It’s an important aspect – maybe one of the most crucial scenarios of team-building – but there are 52 other players on an NFL roster.
Payton is no stranger to building a strong locker room culture. Beloved by the New Orleans community, and media alike, the California native knows how to make sure everyone in an organization is pulling in the same direction. Something the Broncos haven’t been able to say for years now.
Rumours of locker room discontent, and some “diva” like actions from Wilson dominated headlines in Colorado for the better part of the season. The fact that former teammates of Wilson essentially piled on and added to that narrative in the media didn’t help either. So first and foremost, trust and respect inside the facility needs to be re-established.
The future of the Broncos can’t be solely tied to Wilson. There’s every chance that, at 34 years old, he can be no more than middle of the pack quarterback, as opposed to the typical top-7 guy he had been in Seattle. If that’s the case, the Broncos will have to eat crow for a few years before they’re able to move on from Wilson – but that doesn’t mean they can’t build the future foundation until then.
With weapons like Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, Courtland Sutton, Javonte Williams and more, there’s no reason Denver’s offense shouldn’t be able to pile up points and take some pressure off their high performing defence for a change.
Sean Payton isn’t on a salvage mission. He’s still just 59 years old. Instead his hiring has everything to do with the present and the future within the Broncos organization. There’s no doubt the front office believes that Payton can, hopefully, turn Wilson’s luck around. But it’s no guarantee, and the Broncos know that.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.