You’ll thank Russell Wilson one day.
Not because he showed up. Oh, no. Because he left.
Getting him was a risk. Extending him was screwy. But cutting Big Russ forced the Broncos to go cold turkey in record time, to eat a ton of cap money and go young all over the place. It forced a flushing of longtime, popular veterans, of established cultures and cliques. It allowed Sean Payton to rebuild a locker room in his image and with the kind of players he likes: Namely, with kids who are scared to death of him.
“We’d all like to go out and shop for ‘X’ number of groceries, but we’re going to have to go down a different aisle,” Payton explained Monday, a day after the head coach finally snapped the Broncos’ eight-season playoff drought.
“(We said), ‘We’re going to have to develop quickly and not be afraid of playing younger players earlier maybe than normal. (We have to) kind of bow up here a little bit and take on this challenge, and then find these guys that are like-minded and that are competitive.’”
Nearly a quarter of the Broncos’ cap was eaten up by Wilson, who just threw 16 touchdowns for the Steelers. Almost 36% of the ’24 cap was dead money. It took Payton out of his comfort zone.
It also put general manager George Paton right back into his.
Scouting. Drafting. Developing.
“I use that term, ‘Young and hungry can be dangerous,’ and it’s true,” Payton said. “There’s a little naivete to not knowing, even. It’s inspiring as a coach to work with players like that.”
The most dangerous locker room in the NFL is an entitled one. Coaches like their players on edge, waking up three days a week with the idea that they could be cut at any time. It’s cruel, but it works. Bill Belichick was a master of it.
“At the beginning of the season, you try not to see what people are talking about you,” guard Ben Powers said Sunday after the Broncos smashed the Chiefs’ backups 38-0, earning a 10th win and a trip to Buffalo this weekend. “But it’s inevitable, you know what I mean?
“And so for us to be able to prove people wrong … it puts a lot of belief in us. We’re a young team. We’re hungry, man and the future is very bright.”
Just before the start of the regular season, PhillyVoice.com pegged the Broncos with the 10th-youngest roster in the NFL (average age: 25.7 years) and the fourth-youngest (behind the Chiefs, Jaguars and Chargers) in the AFC.
Those are all just numbers, of course. Unless the kids can play.
Paton’s could. Don’t just look at this past April’s draft. Frame it.
Wide receiver Devaughn Vele with pick No. 235. Hit.
Tailback Audric Estime with pick No. 147. Potential hit.
Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine with pick No. 145. Hit.
Wideout Troy Franklin with pick No. 102. Promising hit.
Linebacker Jonah Elliss with pick No. 76. Hit.
Quarterback Bo Nix with pick No. 12. Franchise-changing hit.
Paton can draft, man.
Then again, he always could. He came to Broncos Country with the reputation of turning over diamonds in the rough.
But things got … well, weird. In a coach-QB league, everything Paton threw against the wall when it came to the two most important, essential hires for an NFL franchise stunk instead of sticking.
His first coaching hire (Nathaniel Hackett) was an abject disaster. His first swing at a franchise QB (Wilson) missed so badly that cartoon characters pointed and guffawed.
When it came to the big stuff, the macro stuff, Paton looked over his skis. Maybe he needed a partner, a sounding board, a second opinion. Payton’s never been short of the latter.
And based on the last 18 months or so, this arranged marriage is looking like a fruitful one. Payton required rookies to help clean up that Big Russ mess, and the tandem turned up one of the most cost-effective first-year classes in franchise history.
“I remember in the offseason, talking with (Rams coach Sean) McVay and the year prior for them, they (had) $70 million in dead cap (costs),” Payton said. “In other words, almost a third of your team’s budget for talent is unavailable. We had a joint practice with them, and they had a lot of young — I couldn’t tell you who the players were, (but they had) young undrafted players. It was impressive what they did that season … sometimes those types of challenges (take) rolling up your sleeves.”
Once Paton and Payton went to the grindstone, in hindsight, it was highway robbery. John Franklin-Myers was stolen from the Jets. Swapping out Justin Simmons for Brandon Jones was a masterstroke. Malcolm Roach. Cody Barton. Matt Peart. Dondrea Tillman. So many “no-name” veterans either came with a specific purpose in mind or swiftly found one.
“They stepped up,” Powers said. “… All these guys are doing exactly what they need to do at this moment. It’s fun to watch, and it’s exciting for everyone in the city.”
So, yeah, Russell Wilson fixed the Broncos. The wrong way. The long way.
“Your players certainly do have a little bit of a chip when they see those initial prognostications or whatever,” Payton said. “Then eventually, when you’re in this long enough, you tune that stuff out because half those people don’t have a clue (about) what they’re talking about. ‘Who’s done this before with over 80 million (in dead cap),’ all those things you think about, (that) no one’s done that before. Let’s be the first one.”
Here they are. And Paton can buy my groceries any darn day of the week.
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