Getty Image / Matthew Stockman
After months of speculation about where Sean Payton would end up next season, he ended up heading to Denver to take over as the head coach of the Broncos.
Before making that decision, he had been linked with at least one other job and there were even some questions about whether or not he would return to coaching.
During a conversation with Newsboy’s Tom Rock, Terry Bradshaw, who has been working with Payton at FOX, has shed a little bit of light on how Payton really feels about the Denver Broncos job and the Arizona Cardinals job he didn’t take.
According to Bradshaw, Payton didn’t want to go to Denver because of Russell Wilson or Arizona because of Kyler Murray, but decided to take the Broncos job in spite of Wilson.
Sat with Terry Bradshaw for a bit. Interesting comments on Sean Payton, his co-worker for the past year at FOX. Said Payton didn't want to go to Arizona bc of the QB. Also said he didn't want to go to Denver bc of the QB! Ultimately he took that job in spite of Russ.🤔
— Tom Rock (@TomRock_Newsday) February 7, 2023
Just about anybody considering becoming the head coach of the Denver Broncos had to be at least a little bit concerned about what Russell Wilson has left in the tank. This season was a rough one for him, but his performances at the end of the year should have at least given coaches some hope he’s not completely cooked.
Wilson’s play improved after the Broncos moved on from Nathaniel Hackett and he put together one of his best performances of the year in a win over the Chargers to close out the year.
There had previously been reports that Payton was considering returning to broadcasting for another year rather than take one of the jobs available to him this offseason. It would make sense that reservations about the quarterbacks he’d have to coach would be the reason he was considering writing another year to return to coaching.
Despite his concerns, Payton decided to take the Denver Broncos job and now we’ll get to see if he can be the man to fix Russell Wilson.