QB Wilson calls out ex-coach Payton as 'classless'

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton said he was hoping to face former quarterback Russell Wilson when his team played the New York Giants this past Sunday. Payton got rookie Jaxson Dart instead.

That caught Wilson's attention.

"Classless... but not surprised.... Didn't realize you're still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media," Wilson wrote on X followed by some laughing emojis and the hashtag #LetsRide, a catchphrase he used at the end of his news conferences while a member of the Broncos from 2022 to 2023.

Wilson was responding to comments made by Payton after Sunday's game, which the Broncos won 33-32 with a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback.

"I have a ton of respect for [the Giants] organization," Payton said. "I spent four of my early years there coordinating a Super Bowl, first game in this stadium before 9/11, close with the Mara and Tisch family.

"They found a little spark with that quarterback. I was talking to John Mara not too long ago and I said we were hoping that change would've happened long after our game."

The change Payton was referring to was the switch from Wilson to Dart as the starter. The comment seemed to strike a nerve with the usually reserved Wilson.

Wilson responded with the "bounty hunting" dig at his former coach. That was in reference to a scandal with Payton's New Orleans Saints team from 2009 to 2011 in which a cash-for-hits bounty program was run by former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season without pay as a result.

Dart became the starter for the Giants last month when Wilson was benched after three games. The change has sparked a once-dormant New York offense. The rookie accounted for four touchdowns on Sunday (three passing, one rushing).

The game in Denver was a homecoming of sorts for Wilson, who was the backup for the Giants. He spent time before the game signing jerseys and memorabilia on the field for Broncos and Giants fans alike.

Wilson was traded by the Seattle Seahawks to the Broncos in 2022, but his time in Denver ended abruptly when he was benched by Payton in 2023 and eventually released in the 2024 offseason despite $85 million in dead money. The relationship between coach and quarterback had soured. It does not appear to have been repaired.

The Broncos went 11-19 in Wilson's starts over two seasons and failed to make the playoffs.

Some of the hard feelings from Wilson toward Payton might stem from Wilson's contention that the Broncos had threatened to bench him earlier in the 2023 season if Wilson did not waive an injury guarantee in his contract. At the time, Wilson had $37 million (his 2025 salary) guaranteed if he could not pass a physical on the fifth day of the new league year in March 2024.

After Wilson's release, Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner denied the team had threatened to bench Wilson over the guarantee and said it had tried to negotiate "in good faith'' about any potential contract adjustments. At the time, Wilson said the NFLPA "got involved" and the NFLPA sent a letter to the Broncos that said any such threat would be a violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement.

ESPN's Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.