The relationship between Russell Wilson, the Denver Broncos and head coach Sean Payton seems hopelessly fractured now, and one person who saw it coming the entire time is ESPN NFL analyst Robert Griffin III.
Wilson’s time with the Broncos will reportedly come to an end, according to various reports that stunned the NFL world Wednesday. First came news that the Broncos would bench Wilson in favor of backup QB Jarrett Stidham the final two games. Later, The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini reported that the former Super Bowl champion quarterback expects to be cut by the Broncos in March.
As the bad news accumulated for Wilson, Wilson tweeted out a collection of highlights from past episodes of his RG3 and the Ones podcast in which he essentially predicted the eventual split.
He noted in his tweet that Payton has never wanted Wilson as his quarterback.
“Sean Payton has been doing Russell Wilson dirty since the moment he became the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos,” Wilson tweeted. “Hasn’t once shown him the respect he has earned as a Super Bowl Winning QB or with the respect you show to a QB your organization traded the farm for.”
In one of his past podcasts, RGIII said Payton used Wilson to deflect blame.
“For Sean Payton to do everything he’s done to Russell Wilson when he came in the door, he was trying to make it seem like he was not the problem,” Griffin said. “When you pay a quarterback like Russell Wilson, who has won a Super Bowl, and is a Hall of Famer, when you treat him the way that Sean Payton has, it just feels to me like he doesn’t want him to be his quarterback.
After Payton yelled at Wilson on the sideline during a blowout loss to the Detroit Lions on Dec. 16, Griffin asked the veteran coach to explain the situation. That did not go well.
“I asked Sean after the game, why did he yell at Russell like that, and Sean said, ‘Well, whatever I talk with Russell about ain’t none of your business,'” RGIII recalled in a recent podcast. “Sean Payton, as a coach, if you don’t want people to ask that question, then you can’t do that to your quarterback on the sideline.”
