Payton further distances himself from Wilson’s contract kerfuffle

Most would think Sean Payton, who is one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL, has a large say in the future of the Denver Broncos. It’s probably fair to assume he has a strong voice when it comes to choosing a quarterback and many other things when it comes to roster construction. In fact, Adam Schefter said yesterday on 104.3 The Fan that Payton doesn’t just control the roster but will control the fate of the team’s general manager George Paton.

Payton would have you believe he’s solely focused on the week-to-week of winning in the NFL and is not involved in the long-term conversations being had in the football operations department.

One of the big topics was a stipulation in Russell Wilson’s five-year $250 million contract, which guaranteed future pay if he was to get injured. According to multiple reports, Broncos leadership threatened to bench Wilson if he did not amend this clause and the primary reason for his benching is keeping the team’s options open this offseason—which will likely result in the cutting of the veteran quarterback.

“I’m not privy to any of—I’m handling the football. The no. 1 reason for taking this job was ownership and winning. Certainly, the tradition here mattered relative to being at a place where it’s important,” Payton said on Friday. “That’s something George and the front office—I’m not involved in any of that. Certainty I’m involved in a lot and there will be a time and place at the end of the season where those questions somebody else will be able to answer but my focus is on winning. I’ll go back to what I said at the start of the week—and I know how this has been written but this decision I believe gives us the best chance to win No. 8, it’s a hard decision but there’s no other—but for me where I’m at, that’s all I’m interested in—there would be no other reasons. Russ has had a great week and handled it well professionally. Just know how Greg and Carrie and the ownership group wants to handle—this is a place that’s special. We only get to be here for a while but we have to carry that torch. The focus for me this week is our team and that’s part of being a head coach, I’ll leave it at that. I understand the need for information.”

Wilson will be one of the many veterans the Broncos have cut under Payton’s first year leading the orange and blue. Frank Clark, Randy Gregory and Kareem Jackson have all been shipped out to other NFL teams. Moreover, some around the league have criticized the way the Broncos have done business in what is just the second season for the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group. Historically, the Broncos have been thought to be among the class of the league under the Bowlen family.

Sean Payton says he’s “not privy to” any of the conversations regarding contract terms, etc. re: Russell Wilson. “I’m handling the football,” he says. pic.twitter.com/dvGpE46aZP

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 29, 2023

The Broncos still have an outside chance at making it to the postseason and even just winning without making the playoffs would be a building block for the team’s future Payton argued ahead of the matchup against the Chargers. Still, while Wilson has been underwhelming in his two seasons in Denver he likely gives the Broncos a better chance to win than journeyman backup Jarrett Stidham. Again Payton shakes off any notion of the future and believes the career six touchdown pass and seven interception thrower, Stidham, is the best for the Broncos right now.

“We haven’t sat down and met—what I’m used to doing is when the season ends there will be five or six days of being away from it because experience has told me—then we’ll do the whole roster,” Payton said. “We have a series of numbers and grades that I’ve learned early in my career and we kind of go through every player, starting with the trainers, the strength position coach, the coordinators, pro personnel, GM, head coach and we’ll do that but we haven’t begun it all to decide not just Russ but any other players. The week is certainly too short. For me relative to what I’m doing. And putting practice plans together with our staff and players has been great. And the last thing I just finished with is when we met at the start of the season we talked about the direction you need to head if we want to have success, and it’s not easy.”

If Payton hasn’t thrown Paton under the bus, he’s certainly tried to distance himself from the decision to move on from Russ. At the end of the day, it was Paton and not Payton, who traded for and signed Wilson to the massive extension that will both go down as major eyesores for the Broncos.