Quarterback Russell Wilson stressed throughout his tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers how much he enjoyed playing for Mike Tomlin. Wilson hasn’t shared those same feelings for his former head coach with the Denver Broncos — Sean Payton.
He’s unlikely to anytime soon.
There appears to be no love loss between Wilson and Payton. This week, the two exchanged insults through traditional and social media.
Wilson fired his shade at the Broncos head coach with a post on X on Tuesday.
“Classless … but not surprised …,” wrote Wilson.
“Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media.”
That post referenced Payton’s year-long suspension for “Bounty Gate. An NFL investigation in 2012 found former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams paid bonuses in a bounty system to his players for deliberately injuring opposing players.
Williams allegedly ran the bounty system under Payton, who was the team’s head coach.
Wilson’s post was in response to Payton essentially telling reporters he would have preferred to face Wilson instead of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart in Week 7.
“They found a little spark with that quarterback,” Payton said of Dart. “I was talking to [Giants owner] John Mara not too long ago, and I said, ‘We were hoping that that change would have happened long after our game.’”
Russell Wilson Responds to Sean Payton
There have been a lot of rumblings over the past year and a half that Payton didn’t want anything to do with Wilson after their first year together in Denver. Those rumblings reached a fever pitch after December 16, 2023 when cameras caught Payton irate at Wilson along the Broncos sidelines in a game against the Detroit Lions.
After the 2023 season, the Broncos released Wilson despite owning him $39 million.
The Steelers signed Wilson in NFL free agency. Pittsburgh was able to ink him to a league-minimum deal because his contract with the Broncos meant Denver owned him the difference from $39 million.
In summary, Payton and the Broncos paid Wilson about $37.8 million last season to play for the Steelers.
That’s an obvious sign a coach doesn’t like a quarterback.
Wilson has not really addressed his relationship with Payton publicly. But clearly, the quarterback has had enough of Payton subtlety throwing insults at him.
Steelers Media Defends Wilson Against Payton
Things didn’t end well for Wilson in Pittsburgh. After beginning 6-1 as a starter, the Steelers lost their last four regular season games in 2024.
Including the playoffs, Wilson finished with an even 6-6 record with the Steelers.
Even still, some Steelers pundits were glad to see Wilson go on the offensive against Payton after receiving shade from the Broncos head coach.
It may have been classless for Payton to say he’d rather face Wilson than a rookie quarterback. But it’s hard to deny that the Broncos, and Steelers for that matter, are better off without Wilson.
With their comeback against Wilson’s Giants on Sunday, the Broncos improved to 5-2 this season. The Steelers are 4-2 with Aaron Rodgers behind center.
Wilson led the Giants to an 0-3 start before getting benched in favor of Dart. Wilson has lost his last seven regular season starts.
He is 23-35 as a starting quarterback since the start of the 2021 campaign.
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