Payton to coach Denver

[massari]

Has there been any coach more overrated in recent years than Payton? His teams generally did well in regular season, but wow, how many times did they blow it in the playoffs? If my memory is correct, they even once lost to a 7-9 team in the wildcard round. If they had simply signed him, that'd be one thing, but giving up considerable compensation? That's just flat-out lunacy. Damn, I wish we were getting picks of theirs after this draft, because this is going to blow up in their face.

He seems to be in that Andy Reid/Mike Tomlin/John Harbaugh tier below Belichick with only one SB win despite the amount of reg season success.

His last season in New Orleans after Brees retired, Payton was in coach of the year talks at the halfway point before a lot of those key injuries killed the Saints

Why Sean Payton, who keeps adjusting and keeps winning, is our top NFL coach midseason

He's lost a top receiver and now his starting quarterback. His team was displaced for a month. Payton has the Saints right on schedule.

theathletic.com

 

[FrodosFinger]

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Good hiring by them. Gave up a lot though.

Meh, Go Hawks. The only team that matters.

 

[Ozzy]

Meh who cares about the office. A couple of teammated defended it saying its essentially so he can study because the guy works his ass off.

Whether you want to see Wilson fail or succeed I think this is a fascinating hire. Payton does have some positives to work with. Wilson played better and flashed a little bit after Hackett left. Two very good receivers, a potential stud running back, a good TE and a QB who was near league best for a decade before last years trainwreck. I'm excited to see how this plays out.

 

[Aircrew]

There were many .NET claiming that Payton wanted no part of working with Russell Wilson. Apparently that wasn't the case.

Not so fast. We have no idea what kind of qualifiers Payton demanded in contract negotiations as it pertained to Me3. It's only logical that Payton would say something to the effect,"I didn't trade for Russell Wilson; he's your guy, not mine. I'm inheriting him and I'm concerned about his abilities at this point in his career. If he can't be fixed, I don't want to hear s**t if I bench him and/or want to explore trade partners or flat out cut him."
So, just because Payton took the job (for a staggering per year salary I'm sure) doesn't necessarily mean he wanted to work with Wilson. In fact, next to having very little draft capital, it only makes sense that working with Russell was the biggest factor standing in the way of a deal. Hence the salary dollar amount that is enough to cover the risk Payton is taking in regard to his reputation and legacy plus the headache of dealing with Russell Wilson the prima donna.

 

[hawks85]

I do think that Payton is overrated. All of that being said, if there is one thing Payton does well, it's making his QB's look good. He's a QB guru and just about every guy that has played with him has looked decent. Winston looked better than he ever did as a Saint, Bridgewater had arguably his best years as a Saint, Brees took the next step under Payton. His defenses have been the weak spot, but they've got a lot of talent to work with there.

Payton may be overrated as an HC, but he still is an above average HC. Let's also be honest with the real reason he was brought in. Payton is just about the only guy capable of salvaging Wilson's career at this point. They're stuck with Wilson for many years -- and Payton has a long track record of making his passers look good. There is also no one else in the NFL that has as much experience working with short QB's.

Payton may not be the best coach in the NFL, but he's probably the only one capable of righting the cesspool of a situation down in Denver. They're tied to Wilson for a long time at this point. If there was one guy that is capable of turning Wilson around, it is him. This is what the Broncos are gambling on -- I'm not even sure that he's going to be able to do it either. Wilson has to be humble enough to accept his critique and run his offense, at this point I'm not sure he is capable of doing that.

You're forgetting one very important thing here. The damaged relatioships Wilson has with the team. Wilson is one arrogant son of a bitch. You can have the best coach on the planet and if your teammates don't like you or respect you, it's gonna be very hard to generate wins. Before Payton dives into Wilson they need to have a pow wow with the whole team and fix that part of it first. If Payton can't get the team to support Wilson this will be an epic fail on very level. My personal opinion, Wilson's true colors have surfaced, so the damage is already done.

 

[Aircrew]

costly. but a clear upgrade over hackett and direction going forward.

i wonder if they think that roster is only a player or 2 away from contending. me3 could have a bounce-back season with payton at the helm. but me3 is rapidly declining and isn't their future. their offensive line is terrible. their running backs are bad outside of javante williams, who had a season ending injury. that whole offense outside of jeudy/sutton is a mess.

according to sportrac they only have 3.6m in cap space. and no 1st or 2nd in this draft. it's gonna be tough to upgrade that roster for next season.

so they may need to hit the reset button on that roster. blow the whole thing up. that could mean they sell off all their player assets to gain as much future draft capital as possible. pat surtain would net atleast a mid 1st. courtland sutton would net a 2nd or 3rd, justin simmons a 1st or 2nd, jeudy a 2nd.

Good stuff, agree on all points. And while it would be an awkward phone call, if I were Schneider I'd consider offering our #20 for Surtain. That guy is the real deal.

 

[hoxrox]

And Payton confirmed as much in his first comments upon accepting Denver's head-coaching position.

"Russell is a hard worker and has played at a high level and won a lot of games in this league," he told Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com on Tuesday. "The pressure is on us to put a good run game together and reduce the degree of difficulty on his position. I'm excited about him."


Translation: "I'm going to pretty much do what Pete Carroll tried to do."

 

[Torc]

Payton said a while ago what he would do with Wilson:

Payton offered several other details about how he'd fix Wilson during an interview a few months ago. Back in October, Payton made an appearance on the "The Colin Cowherd Show," and it's worth looking back on that interview now that he's been hired by the Broncos.

During the show, Payton was asked how long it might take to get Wilson back to his old form and how he would fix things if he were coaching the one-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback.


"You correct flaws immediately, and then we don't worry about how long the process is going to take," Payton said. "In other words, I'd want a cut-up today of all of Russell's pass plays of 30 or more yards from the field and I'd want to see, 'Are there some schemes that he felt very comfortable with?'"

Payton also said he'd take a close look at what made Wilson successful in Seattle.

"I know they did a great job in Seattle of bringing him off of a naked boot and then pulling up," Payton said. "And then we all saw that throwback to Tyler Lockett across the field where the ball traveled 60 yards in the air."

The question is whether Russ is willing to back to what he did well with the Seahawks. That isn't "cooking" in terms of taking over the game and having 400 yard games several times a year. But I think Payton has the credibility to be able to look Russ in the eye and tell him what's going to happen. Not many other coaches that were available would have that.

 

[knownone]

Payton said a while ago what he would do with Wilson:




The question is whether Russ is willing to back to what he did well with the Seahawks. That isn't "cooking" in terms of taking over the game and having 400 yard games several times a year. But I think Payton has the credibility to be able to look Russ in the eye and tell him what's going to happen. Not many other coaches that were available would have that.

I don't think this is even a question. Russell doesn't have much choice after last season.

 

[Aircrew]

And Payton confirmed as much in his first comments upon accepting Denver's head-coaching position.

"Russell is a hard worker and has played at a high level and won a lot of games in this league," he told Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com on Tuesday. "The pressure is on us to put a good run game together and reduce the degree of difficulty on his position. I'm excited about him."


Translation: "I'm going to pretty much do what Pete Carroll tried to do."

I caught that too, what a humiliating turn of events not even a year removed from forcing his way out of Seattle.

 

[Scorpion05]

And Payton confirmed as much in his first comments upon accepting Denver's head-coaching position.

"Russell is a hard worker and has played at a high level and won a lot of games in this league," he told Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com on Tuesday. "The pressure is on us to put a good run game together and reduce the degree of difficulty on his position. I'm excited about him."


Translation: "I'm going to pretty much do what Pete Carroll tried to do."

But unlike Pete Carroll, Payton won't run into a brick wall against single high safeties.

That was one of the problems with Pete for many years. Let Russ Cook worked in 2020. It would have worked in the 2018 Dallas playoff game. We know that Russ can pass at a high volume against single high safeties. He struggled against two-high safeties and the new Fangio style defense. But it is a fact that he would have dominated against single high before Fangio's defense took the league over. 2020 Week 1 to Week 8 proved that.

Pete and Waldron have nothing on Payton when it comes to scheme and play calling. I expect Payton to have a balanced attack like every successful offense in the league.

 

[Scorpion05]

This is a great move. Bitter fans will hate on it but this is the best case scenario for Russ. He has the best possible offensive coach he could ask for, and the Broncos will be healthy next year. Whether some want to admit it or not, Russ was right for wanting out. He will be on a team with a better defense, arguably a better coach, and a better offense when healthy.

The NFC is weak, so there's no comparison. Any chance Russ had of winning championships was going to happen on a team like the Broncos. This Seahawks team is nowhere close to the 49ers or Eagles.

For all of the complaints about "Me3," Russ made the right decision for his career. Whether it works out or not time will tell. It was also time to move on because judging by this thread, it makes more sense to trash Russ while celebrating actual selfish former Seahawks like Sherman, Lynch, and DUI Geno.

 

[SantaClaraHawk]

Meh who cares about the office. A couple of teammated defended it saying its essentially so he can study because the guy works his ass off.

Whether you want to see Wilson fail or succeed I think this is a fascinating hire. Payton does have some positives to work with. Wilson played better and flashed a little bit after Hackett left. Two very good receivers, a potential stud running back, a good TE and a QB who was near league best for a decade before last years trainwreck. I'm excited to see how this plays out.

Fairly, Jerry Rosburg was already getting the best of Russ ending in that 31-27 win against the Chargers. He and Outten figured out a game plan with Lots of rollouts and bootlegs. Russ showed he could execute it. And after, Russ’ hype video highlights were captured off of a tv, as opposed to his social media team having access to the field as they clearly did in London. I speculate That Russ told Jake Heaps and the entourage not to show up at the facility after Hackett got fired. Russ got better after that.

It didnt need to take up to 27m per year fully guaranteed for however many years plus a 1st and second for that to happen. It happened under Rosberg,

 

[Ozzy]

Is that what they're paying Payton? That's crazy!

 

[SantaClaraHawk]

Is that what they're paying Payton? That's crazy!

Seriously, are the Broncs afflicted afflicted with the “if I hire a big enough name it will save me from embarrassment“ theory? The last time Peyton was up against a challenging qb situation he quit.

 

[BASF]

Is that what they're paying Payton? That's crazy!

https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/news/broncos-sean-payton-hc-contract-details

What is being said is between $17M-20M per. Still crazy. He is a good coach, but that is a lot of cheddar.

 

[hoxrox]

Pete and Waldron have nothing on Payton when it comes to scheme and play calling. I expect Payton to have a balanced attack like every successful offense in the league.

Payton also had the benefit of Alvin Kamara and Drew Brees in their primes. Brees can read defenses, go through his progressions and make the right decisions, quickly. He was the cog that made that offense work.

Can Payton fix Russ? Possibly but wouldn't bet big money on it.

 

[Jac]

This is a great move. Bitter fans will hate on it but this is the best case scenario for Russ. He has the best possible offensive coach he could ask for, and the Broncos will be healthy next year. Whether some want to admit it or not, Russ was right for wanting out. He will be on a team with a better defense, arguably a better coach, and a better offense when healthy.

The NFC is weak, so there's no comparison. Any chance Russ had of winning championships was going to happen on a team like the Broncos. This Seahawks team is nowhere close to the 49ers or Eagles.

For all of the complaints about "Me3," Russ made the right decision for his career. Whether it works out or not time will tell. It was also time to move on because judging by this thread, it makes more sense to trash Russ while celebrating actual selfish former Seahawks like Sherman, Lynch, and DUI Geno.

T

But unlike Pete Carroll, Payton won't run into a brick wall against single high safeties.

That was one of the problems with Pete for many years. Let Russ Cook worked in 2020. It would have worked in the 2018 Dallas playoff game. We know that Russ can pass at a high volume against single high safeties. He struggled against two-high safeties and the new Fangio style defense. But it is a fact that he would have dominated against single high before Fangio's defense took the league over. 2020 Week 1 to Week 8 proved that.

Pete and Waldron have nothing on Payton when it comes to scheme and play calling. I expect Payton to have a balanced attack like every successful offense in the league.

Seattle had the #13 total offense and #10 passing offense this past season. They were a balanced, successful offense.

 

[bileever]

Sean Payton is a good coach. He had 10 winning seasons (out of 15) in New Orleans. Yes, for most of those years, it was a pretty weak division, but it is difficult to sustain that kind of success in the NFL over a long period of time. He won 7 division titles and a Super Bowl. That being said, it's tough to give up draft capital just to hire a coach, especially when you're low on resources to begin with.

Two things bother me about Payton. The first is Bountygate, for which he was suspended for a year. Although most of the blame fell on Gregg Williams, Payton was the head coach, and knew or should have known what was going on. The idea of trying to hurt players on the other team by dirty play is not just unsportsmanlike, it's disgusting, inhumane and illegal. In a sport that is already violent and dangerous, the last thing it needs is this kind of BS. The NFL should have banned Payton and Williams for life, to show that player safety is a priority. Instead, he got the same punishment as Calvin Ridley, who bet on his team to win.

The other thing that bothers me is that Payton left the Saints after last year, claiming burnout. But one couldn't help but wonder if he left because the Saints are in salary cap hell, a situation that he helped to create, and they had no quarterback. He signed a long term contract with the Saints, and should have honored it. Payton wanted to pick and choose his destination. Rumors were he would have preferred Cowboys or the Chargers, but they didn't bite.