Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton hoped to face former quarterback Russell Wilson after they confronted the New York Giants this previous Sunday. He received rookie Jaxson Dart as a substitute.
That caught Wilson’s consideration.
“Classless… however not stunned…. Did not notice you are still bounty looking 15+ years later by the media,” Wilson wrote on X adopted by some laughing emojis and the hashtag #LetsRide, a catchphrase he used on the finish of his information conferences whereas a member of the Broncos from 2022-23.
Wilson was responding to feedback made by Payton after Sunday’s sport, which the Broncos gained 33-32 with an exhilarating fourth-quarter comeback.
“I’ve a ton of respect for [the Giants] group,” Payton mentioned. “I spent 4 of my early years there coordinating a Tremendous Bowl, first sport on this stadium earlier than 9/11, shut with the Mara and Tisch household.
“They discovered a bit of spark with that quarterback. I used to be speaking to John Mara not too way back and I mentioned we had been hoping that change would’ve occurred lengthy after our sport.”
The change Payton was referring to was the change from Wilson to Dart because the starter. The remark appeared to strike a nerve with the normally passive and reserved Wilson.
Wilson went with the “bounty looking” dig at his former coach. That was in reference to a scandal with Payton’s New Orleans Saints staff from 2009-11 during which a cash-for-hits bounty program was run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
Payton was suspended for all the 2012 season with out pay consequently.
Dart turned the starter for the Giants final month when Wilson was benched after three video games. It has offered life to a once-dormant New York offense. The rookie accounted for 4 touchdowns on Sunday (three passing, one dashing).
It was a homecoming of types for Wilson, who was the backup for the Giants. He hung out earlier than the sport signing jerseys and memorabilia on the sphere for Broncos and Giants followers alike.
Wilson was traded by the Seattle Seahawks to the Broncos in 2022, however his time in Denver ended abruptly the next season when he was benched by Payton in 2023 and ultimately launched him within the 2024 offseason regardless of $85 million in lifeless cash. The connection between coach and quarterback had soured. It doesn’t seem to have been repaired.
The Broncos went 11-19 in Wilson’s begins over two seasons and did not make the playoffs.
Among the roots of the laborious emotions from Wilson towards Payton could stem from Wilson’s competition the Broncos had threatened to bench him earlier within the 2023 season if Wilson didn’t waive an damage assure in his contract. On the time Wilson had $37 million (his 2025 wage) assured if he couldn’t cross a bodily on the fifth day of the brand new league 12 months in March of 2024.
After Wilson’s launch Broncos proprietor/CEO Greg Penner denied the staff had threatened to bench Wilson over the assure and that they’d tried to barter “in good religion” about any potential contract changes. On the time Wilson mentioned the NFLPA “received concerned” and the NFLPA despatched a letter to the Broncos that mentioned any such risk can be a violation of the league’s collective bargaining settlement.
ESPN’s Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.