Sean Payton has the entire NFL talking on Wednesday. The new Broncos coach’s interview with USA Today was a tour-de-force. He trashed predecessor Nathaniel Hackett, now the Jets’ offensive coordinator. He threw unprovoked shade at Gang Green. And he peddled some Baghdad Bob-esque happy talk about Russell Wilson.
The attacks on Hackett and the Jets seemed rather unbecoming of a Super Bowl-winning head coach. But that is not the case! Rather it is an example of Payton’s next-level thinking, as highlighted by our pals at Jets X-Factor:
Sean Payton PR spin🤔 pic.twitter.com/ghT3oOpV9i
— Cool Your Jets (@CYJpod) July 28, 2023
It is all part of the plan, folks. Just like Bountygate and that alleged bong video and the impermissible contact with the Dolphins.
We should not be shocked by the above tweets. This is how the sausage is made. Some of the league’s top scoop merchants would tweet out testimonials for Vladimir Putin if the right agent asked them to. But come on. Yes, Payton probably wants to take pressure off his fading quarterback and his bad team. No argument there. But he is not Gen. Patton here.
Payton is a good coach. And he would likely have another Super Bowl appearance under his belt (at least) if not for the egregious call in the NFC title game against the Rams. But his Saints teams always flopped in the postseason and he likely got away with three straight 7-9 seasons there in part because the team had a chaotic ownership situation.
Hot take: Payton will be a disaster in Denver. It will be Mike Ditka with the Saints 2.0. Celebrity head coach with possibly impatient and definitely loaded owners and a mercurial quarterback on the decline and with an immovable contract. We give it two years.
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James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @jameskratch.
