Greenberg: Payton wrong hire for Broncos, wanted Wilson to fail
Mar 6, 2024, 1:19 PM | Updated: 3:15 pm
Add ESPN’s Mike Greenberg as the latest national personality to rip the Denver Broncos for how they handled the situation between head coach Sean Payton and QB Russell Wilson.
On his radio show on Wednesday, Greenberg went on a long rant in which he described what the Broncos did as “organizational malpractice.”
Greenberg raised a variety of different points, but perhaps his two most jarring are that Payton wanted Wilson to play poorly so that he could move on and that Payton was the wrong hire as head coach last offseason.
“They brought in a guy, running an offense, who frankly walked in the door not wanting Russell Wilson. He wanted it on some level to fail so he could move on from Russell Wilson as quickly as possible,” Greenberg said.
Payton criticized Wilson for texting Drew Brees too much last winter, said he needed to stop acting like a politician and kissing babies and also wanted to hang out with Joe Montana more at the Super Bowl instead of Wilson.
Then, of course, there was the meltdown in Detroit where Payton berated Wilson on the sideline late in the regular season.
“Designed his offense, yelled, screamed at him, had critical things to say about him before the preseason even began. And now you’re telling me Russell Wilson merely played okay? I think all things considered having played okay in that circumstance is pretty good,” Greenberg said.
Wilson did throw 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2023, but was benched for backup Jarret Stidham with two games to go. He’ll never play another snap for the Broncos, as the team announced they’ll release him next week.
Greenberg says Denver should’ve gone an entirely different direction after firing Nathaniel Hackett late in 2022.
“They should have never hired Sean Payton a year after making Russell Wilson their franchise. They became the Denver Wilsons, whether that was the right or wrong move at the time, that’s what they made themselves,” Greenberg said.
He acknowledged Payton is a future Hall of Fame coach, but this match simply never worked. To be fair, Denver did want Jim Harbaugh and DeMeco Ryans, but struck out on both.
To listen to Greenberg’s full rant, click here.
