Even though he was statistically efficient in 2023, Russell Wilson was not at all a good fit in Sean Payton's offense, which has left the Broncos looking elsewhere for their franchise QB. Payton met with the media recently and did not even try to hide how he feels and felt about Wilson and his time with him during the 2023 NFL season.
He was asked if the $85 million dead cap hit the team would have to eat by cutting Russell Wilson made the decision hard. And here is Payton's response:
Sean Payton is cold blooded AF lol pic.twitter.com/I4A9A0woZp
— ThatsGoodSports (@BrandonPerna) March 26, 2024
I mean, that was as cutthroat and deliberate of a "no" that I have ever heard. Payton did not hesitate to answer this question and it seems like it was an easy decision for him and the Broncos to make. Secondly, he was asked how the team's offense can better score more points, and this was his response to that question:
Sean Payton on how the Broncos can score more points: “No. 1, we can’t take as many sacks”
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) March 25, 2024
This is also very clearly a shot at Russell Wilson. The QB took 100 sacks during his 30 games with the Broncos in 2022-2023, which is a whopping 3.33 sacks taken per game. He took 45 sacks in 15 games in 2023, which is an even three sacks taken per game. For reference, Drew Brees took 328 sacks in 228 games with the New Orleans Saints during the Sean Payton era. That comes out to just 1.43 sacks taken per game, which is less than half of what Wilson took during his lone year with Payton.
It's obvious that Russell Wilson was not going to be a good fit for Sean Payton's offense in Denver, and the Broncos quickly made the move to cut him, which will force them to take $85 million in dead money, $53 million of which is taken this year and $32 million will be taken next year. For Payton, it still feels like he's taking jabs at Russell Wilson when given the chance to.
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