during remarks made by his former head coach Sean Payton during the Denver Broncos’ 33-32 victory over New York on Sunday, Giants quarterback Russell Wilson referred to Payton as “classless.”
“Classless, but not shocked… Wilson posted on X, “Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media,” followed by a few smiling emojis and the hashtag #LetsRide, a catchphrase he made famous when playing for the Broncos in 2022 and 2023.
The backup quarterback for New York appeared to be reacting to remarks made by Denver head coach Payton following the Broncos’ thrilling victory over the Giants in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Payton remarked, “They found a little spark with that quarterback,” referring to rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who took Wilson’s spot as the Giants’ starter after the team started the season 0–3.”We were hoping that that change would have happened long after our game,” Payton continued in a recent conversation with John Mara.
In response, Wilson brought up the “Bountygate” controversy, which concerned Payton’s New Orleans Saints’ usage of a bounty system during the 2009 and 2011 seasons in which players received payments for, among other things, hitting hard and purposefully hurting opponents.
Payton received a one-year unpaid suspension in 2012 after the NFL discovered that he was aware of the bounty scheme and had taken no action to stop it, despite not being directly involved.
Wilson and Payton’s arguments are a reflection of their ongoing conflict, which originated during their shared time in the Mile High City.
In Wilson’s two seasons, the Broncos went an unimpressive 11-19 and failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Wilson was benched after the first 15 games of the 2023 season after throwing for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns. He was then dismissed in the summer, with the Broncos incurring a whopping $85 million dead salary cap. The decision was made in light of the then-35-year-old’s contract’s injury guarantee, which promised him $37 million if he failed a physical on the fifth day of the upcoming league season in March 2024.
Denver prevented Wilson from getting hurt by benching him, which allowed them to save money on his release.
Speaking to reporters at the time, Wilson claimed that following the Broncos’ Week 8 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, the team approached him and threatened to bench him if he didn’t move back his injury guarantee in his contract.
“We defeated the Chiefs.” They approached me on Monday or Tuesday at the start of the bye week and threatened to bench me for the remainder of the season if I didn’t alter my contract and my injury guarantee. Wilson expressed his disappointment over this.
He declared, “I wasn’t going to take away injury guarantees.” This is a really physical game. It means to me that I have played for twelve years.
