Well to be fair to Russ, he is playing how he always played. Sean Payton knew what he was getting with Russ. He himself said he was going to use all the good plays from Seattle to help Russ. Russell's strengths are all his physical tools. He is average at best when it comes to the cerebral aspect of the game. Russell is not playing to the level of his contract but Sean Payton has been horrible this year. Sean Payton this year is the coaching version of 2022 Russ.
I honestly don't know if it's at all fair to lay any blame on Sean Payton for the 1-4 start. Russell is his own special animal. Maybe Payton came in thinking one set of things about how he'd run the team and manage Wilson, but now has to confront a reality that is uglier than he imagined.
* Broncos lost overall talent, especially their D, by giving up 4 high draft picks for Russell. If 3 out of 4 had hit, Denver is down 3 impact players.
* Broncos lost even more talent, due to salary cap constraints from giving Russell a huge contract. So Denver is down perhaps 2-3 more impact players.
* Broncos lost 2023 1st round pick, #30, which came from Dolphins for Bradley Chubb, a pick Dolphins got from 49ers in the Trey Lance draft deal.
If the Seahawks sacrificed 6 of our top 15 impact players, how would that affect the team's record? Maybe lose at least 3 more games? E.g. from 9-8 to 6-11?
Denver was 7-10 in 2021 before Russell, with the #2 scoring defense. Then 5-12 last year. This year, they might be lucky to get even those 5 wins again. Is one of the real problems that Payton is inheriting a talent-deficient roster? Couple that with Payton's adjustment to realizing he needs to staff for and run the "Russell Wilson Offense", but with a declining Russell Wilson, and limited skill player talent? (Russell has no Tyler or Doug security blanket equivalent, for example) I think Payton is smart enough to realize all those issues, but he's not likely to blab all that to the media.
So, Russell may or may not be "the problem", but the Broncos overall roster talent depletion from acquiring Wilson (and Payton) certainly IS a problem.
Laying all that out, I can't really see how Payton would want to build around an aging, declining, limited Russell Wilson after this year, unless they somehow discover a spark this year. I'd think going forward, Payton would want a QB able to run the type of offense that Drew Brees did, and to upgrade the roster talent overall. Will be interesting to watch...