Give Russell Wilson an inch, he’ll take a sack.
No more hugs. No more kid gloves. No more coddling. If I’m Sean Payton, I treat Big Russ like every other stiff in the offensive meeting rooms.
Think you deserve to start? Prove it. Think you deserve to skip some preseason starts? Prove it. Think you deserve your own office? Prove it.
Privileges are earned here, man. Not promised.
Broncos veterans are slated to report to training camp Tuesday, where some of the seeds that would doom 2022 were planted and watered.
Payton’s predecessor, Nathaniel “Huggy Bear” Hackett, deferred to Russ on everything but his Star Wars collection. A first-year, first-time head coach got run over by a $245 million smile and a 50-cent shoulder.
Wilson is many things. But cripes, is he a lousy front-runner. No. 3 works best when he’s got an edge. Something to prove. Something to chase. Hackett’s decision to give Wilson the run of Dove Valley was, in hindsight, completely disastRuss.
If I’m Payton, I whisper in Wilson’s ear and crawl inside his head. I talk up No. 2 QB Jarrett Stidham like he’s the second coming of Tom Brady. Did you see those three touchdowns Jarett threw against that 49ers defense on New Year’s, Russ? How many did you put up against San Fran again?
No more hugs. No more kid gloves. No more coddling.
Payton should be a lovely mood after Broncos defensive end Eyioma “The Gambler” Uwazurike got himself suspended for reportedly betting on NFL games in 2022. Uwazurike also happened to be the fourth-round draft selection that came over from Seattle in the Wilson trade, and there’s Pete Carroll, pointing and cackling again in the distance.
The first part wasn’t Russ’ fault — Lordy, we hope — as the young lineman out of Iowa State just set a new bar for boneheadedness.
But it also served as a reminder Broncos Country, as veterans report, that with Uwazurike out, GM George Paton effectively shipped off what became eight players to Seattle for … (checks notes) … a signal-caller that the Madden video game guys just rated a 77 out of 100.
No pressure, Russ.
No more hugs. No more kid gloves. No more coddling.
Also, anybody got a number for Shelby Harris?
In more ways than one, Big Russ is on his own now. Hackett’s gone. The book-end tackles (for now) are healthy. Tim Patrick’s back. Scouts dig Marvin Mims Jr. Now we find out if Payton, one of the league’s most respected quarterback whisperers, can solve the NFL’s biggest quarterback quandary.
Because if Payton can’t make this bird fly at age 34, nobody can. And this winter is the first one in which the Broncos can seriously, if necessary, look at carving out a post-Russ escape plan. If they don’t cut Wilson before the fifth day of the 2024 league year — roughly March 19 or 20 — his $37 million salary for 2025 becomes fully guaranteed. He could be designated as a post-June 1 cut that would spread out that excruciating cap hit between 2024 ($35.4 million) and 2025 ($49.6 million) or, if he’s a pre-June 1 cut, in one great white shark bite of $85 million on the ’24 cap.
No more hugs. No more kid gloves. No more coddling.
If 2022 was a honeymoon wasted, 2023 is about Wilson’s legacy here, for better or for worse. During a six-week stretch smack-dab in the middle of the season, the Broncos could be on track to face, in consecutive games, offenses led by Aaron Rodgers (Jets, Oct. 8), Patrick Mahomes (at Chiefs, Oct. 12), Jordan Love (Packers, Oct. 22), Mahomes again (vs. Chiefs, Oct. 29), Josh Allen (at Buffalo, Nov. 13) and Kirk Cousins (vs. Vikings, Nov. 19).
No more hugs. No more kid gloves. No more coddling.
Whenever Wilson looked over his shoulder last August, he saw Hackett, arms extended, ready for a cuddle. Whenever he looked over his shoulder in November, he saw Maxx Crosby, ready to snap him in half. The two scenarios, as it turns out, were not unrelated.
No more hugs. No more kid gloves. No more coddling. No more excuses, either.
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