The Denver Broncos landed Sean Payton. Now the work of getting Russell Wilson back on track after the quarterback's disastrous first season in Denver begins.
Of all the coaching candidates, Payton is best suited to cure what ails Wilson with a QB-friendly offense that gets the ball to playmakers in space. Following the news of his hiring on Tuesday, Payton told Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune he looks forward to working with Wilson.
"Russell is a hard worker and has played at a high level and won a lot of games in this league," Payton said. "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."
The Broncos had the last-ranked scoring offense in 2022 (16.9 PPG), while Wilson generated career lows in completion percentage (60.5), TD-INT ratio (16-11) and passer rating (84.4). The Saints ranked top-10 in scoring in 12 of 15 seasons with Payton as head coach.
The 2022 campaign marked the seventh consecutive season the Broncos missed the playoffs since winning Super Bowl 50 (2015 season).
"It's a great fan base and great tradition," Payton said. "The ownership group is fantastic, and I love the way they competed in some of their games last year. It's a good football city that we had in New Orleans. It matters there. The fans are passionate about the team."
Passionate and starving for a winner that Denver hopes Payton will finally provide.
