The first day of the 2024 league year may have started for the NFL on Wednesday, March 13, but that hasn’t stopped the pro football community from continuing to voice its displeasure for Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s handling of Russell Wilson last season.
In Payton’s first year, the Broncos went 8-9 and made a late push for postseason contention before the nuclear fallout of benching Wilson for backup QB Jarrett Stidham for the final two games. On Wednesday, Wilson’s official release from Denver was designated a post-June 1 release, resulting in the team eating less dead money in 2024.
In turn, Wilson signed a one-year veteran minimum contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent this week, leaving the Broncos to continue their pursuit of a franchise quarterback.
Denver currently holds the No. 12 overall selection in the 2024 NFL draft, and many experts (and fans) are speculating that Payton will handpick his newest signal-caller in the first round next month.
After releasing Wilson and aiming to steer the team into a new era, all the pressure to win falls on Payton’s shoulders, as he aims to right the disastrous wrongs of Denver’s QB carousel for the better part of the past decade.
On Thursday, former All-Pro wideout Roddy White, and Payton’s long-time NFC South rival, took aim at the Broncos head coach.
“Sean [Payton] time has passed him by. [It] don’t matter who he gets in the draft. Drew [Brees] carried that man and he ain’t done nothing since,” White wrote on X/Twitter.
Sean Peyton time has passed him by don’t matter who he gets in the draft drew carried that man and he ain’t done nothing since.
— Roddy White (@roddywhiteTV) March 13, 2024
The former Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowler was also quick to claim that Payton’s success should be credited to future Hall-of-Famer Drew Brees and suggested that Wilson’s treatment in Denver was unfair.
Dude that broncos roster was really good probably too 5 two years ago now it’s dismantled by a man that time has passed him by. Man yelling at Russ like his resume is better than Russ’s last time I checked Russ went to 2 Super Bowl not one. Russ winning percentage better https://t.co/BvBSOTNlfi
— Roddy White (@roddywhiteTV) March 13, 2024
White’s bold criticism of Payton ignited a firestorm of reactions on social media from fans in Atlanta, New Orleans, and Denver, including FOX Sports color commentator and Denver’s 104.3 The FAN radio host Mark Schlereth clapped back at White’s hot takes.
“Good roster? They averaged 6 wins a year over those years! Get out of here with that garbage,” Schlereth wrote on X.
Perhaps there are some sour grapes from the opinionated former first-round receiver. White’s Falcons went 7-15 against Payton’s New Orleans Saints while both receiver and coach were in the NFC South. White recorded 86 catches for 12,93 yards and scored nine touchdowns combined over his 22 games played against the Saints.
White insists his social media antipathy for Payton has nothing to do with their former rivalry.
“I don’t want people to think that (be)cause he coached the Saints and I was a Falcons player, that’s why I’m saying what I’m saying. I just watched the games cause I’m a fan. Your job as a coach is to put the players in the best position to make plays and he didn’t do that,” White wrote on X.
Reasonable minds disagree. White should review Wilson’s stark improvement under Payton, which included more touchdowns (26 to 16) and a higher completion percentage (66.4% vs. 60.5%) than the previous season under Nathaniel Hackett.
The Walton-Penner ownership group and Broncos Country knew exactly what they were getting when they acquired Payton’s rights to coach a year ago. The Broncos hired a bold, brash, unapologetic, and stubborn head coach who’s willing to take the risks required to accomplish his mission, even if that means stepping on some toes along the way.
Prior to Payton’s arrival, the last time the Broncos won eight games or more was in 2016, when the team went 9-7 in a Super Bowl hangover year.
Sorry, Roddy. Payton’s first season may have been bizarre and bumpy, but the results prove that neither the league nor time has passed the veteran coach by. The bigger question will be whether Payton can identify, select, and develop the Broncos’ next first-round quarterback into a franchise player.
