The Denver Broncos are stuck with Russell Wilson for the foreseeable future thanks to his enormous contract. After the disastrous 2022 season, Denver realized they needed to make sweeping changes to help the quarterback they invested so much into. One such change was trading for, and signing, former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton to attempt to right the ship.
Payton is a Super Bowl winning head coach and helped transform the lowly Saints into a perennial playoff/Super Bowl contender under his watch. His success with Drew Brees, another shorter quarterback, leads many to believe he can correct Wilson’s seemingly sharp decline.
However, what Payton’s plans are might sound a little familiar to the 12th Man…
Sean Payton on Russell Wilson: “Two greatest allies for a QB are defense and a run game. We need to take him off the high dive the whole time. He’ll need to be there 6-8 times per game though.” pic.twitter.com/1LBfqW4oPn
— Chris Simms (@CSimmsQB) February 10, 2023
A defense? A run game? Putting the quarterback in better positions for moments in the game? Sure sounds awfully familiar to what Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has preached for over a decade, and continues to do so.
The grand irony in the Russell Wilson saga is he left Seattle in search of a system that will allow him to be the focal point of the offense. In the end, he’s in one that seems to mirror the situation he just left.