Speaking on the 4th and South podcast with Jarvis Landry and Leonard Fournette, Former Denver Broncos safety, shed more light on the tensions between Russell Wilson and Sean Payton.

Two-time Pro-Bowler Justin Simmons explained why Wilson and Payton struggled to get on the same page.

Before Payton arrived, Wilson had been given significant freedom under former head coach Nathaniel Hackett. The quarterback had a strong voice in the offense and worked closely with his own support staff. That changed once Payton took over.

“Their personalities just clashed from like day one,” Simmons said. “The way that Sean operates and the way that Russ has operated when he was with Seattle, it just clashed.”

The former safety also pointed to their contrasting approaches on offense as one of the main reasons that things became difficult.

“Russ has always been really good at making plays out of nothing, right?” Simmons said on Friday. "Sean is very controlling, like he wants you to run what he calls, don’t switch it up. So some of that happened too, and when you start butting heads with two alphas, that’s the result that’s going to happen.”

The relation remained a talking point throughout Wilson's final season in Denver.

According to Yardbarker, reports later surfaced that the Broncos approached Wilson during the bye week of the 2023 season to renegotiate injury guarantees in his contract.

Wilson publicly confirmed the conversation, while the organization denied any such interaction.

"But just being in the locker room with Russ and stuff like that, I know, like, they were bu***** heads a lot", Simmons said. "And you know that’s a tough situation to be in for him.”

Now, years later, Simmons' remarks provided more context about the challenges Denver faced during that period.

How Wilson's Exit Ultimately Impacted Denver

The Wilson era in Denver came to an end in March 2024 when the Broncos released the veteran quarterback. Wilson later had stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants. But currently, he is a free agent.

His departure, however, left a significant financial impact on the Broncos. Denver absorbed an $85 million dead-cap charge, which forced the front office to make several difficult roster decisions.

One of the biggest moves that followed was cutting Simmons, who recorded 70 tackles with the Broncos in 2023.

“We had a dead cap with Russ. I think it was like 60 or 80, something up there, million,” Simmons said on the same podcast. “We was in dead cap. So, myself, Courtland Sutton, and Garett Bolles, the left tackle, we’re the three highest paid guys.”

The Broncos have since moved on and built a new core around Bo Nix. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Debanjali Rakshit

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore