Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has received criticism in recent days from media members for the benching of former Super Bowl Champion quarterback Russell Wilson. Payton finally had someone come to his defense on Thursday in FS1’s Colin Cowherd.
Wilson’s benching surprised many, mainly because the team still has a chance at a postseason spot, albeit an outside chance at best.
However, shortly after the decision to bench him, it was later reported that this plan had been in the works for months. The team reportedly threatened Wilson just days after their Week 8 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, telling him he would be benched if he didn’t defer the guaranteed money in his contract to the 2025 season.
Payton and Wilson haven’t had the best relationship from the very start. Whether it be sideline outbursts from Payton towards Wilson or Payton constantly throwing Wilson under the bus after games, it seems to be clear that the relationship was always fractured.
Some could put the blame for this on Sean Payton. Simply put, he joined the team knowing who his quarterback was and what the team gave up to get him.
However, Colin Cowherd doesn’t believe Payton is at fault for what has happened this season, saying that Peyton “didn’t create this mess.”
“Sean Payton didn’t create this mess,” said Cowherd on his show The Herd. “He didn’t give away two firsts and two seconds. He didn’t give away three good players; he didn’t write this contract. What is he supposed to do? Let it ride? No thanks, you inherit a mess; what do you do? The truth is that the Denver o-line is probably the best Russell has ever had. And he still takes too many sacks. Sean Payton gave them a chance. It’s not Week 3 it is Week 17. It’s not working. Patience is really overrated with quarterbacks. You can see great, average, and bad really quickly.”
"Sean Payton didn't create this mess… What's he supposed to do?"
— @ColinCowherd on what's next for the Broncos pic.twitter.com/tyEWU6Dqxh
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) December 28, 2023
You can certainly argue whether benching Wilson is the right decision for the Broncos’ performance on the field for the rest of the season. But that isn’t even the issue that many are taking with this decision.
Most are upset and frustrated with how Payton and the organization went about benching him, telling Wilson, a former Super Bowl champion quarterback, to adjust his contract to remain the team’s starter.
The simple fact is that the Broncos organization gave Wilson that contract in the first place. And Sean Payton knew precisely what he was signing up for by taking the job in Denver.
It seems that Cowherd is blaming Russell Wilson solely for the Broncos’ poor performance this year instead of holding Sean Payton accountable. The partnership between Wilson and Payton was never going to be successful, regardless of how you look at it.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.