Sean Payton hasn't made 'final decision' on Russell Wilson's future, regrets bashing Jets

LAS VEGAS — Sean Payton's not officially done with Russell Wilson.

One of the biggest storylines toward the end of the NFL season was that the Denver Broncos benched the quarterback for the final two games. But the head coach said that the nine-time Pro Bowler's future isn't certain.

"I don't think we've made a final decision," Payton told USA TODAY Sports on Friday at Radio Row in Las Vegas for Super Bowl 58. "And I say that honestly because we begin the draft meetings Monday."

The assumption was that Wilson's time was up in the Mile High City. There has been speculation that the Broncos might pick up a quarterback in the upcoming draft with stars like USC's Caleb Williams and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. or explore their options in free agency.

"It's always funny when I read stories about, 'This is what we're gonna do in the draft. We're gonna trade up.' I'm like, I haven't looked at any of these college quarterbacks yet, so how is someone writing that story?" Payton said. "We begin that process this week. We've already begun the process of looking at free agency. And so, back to that puzzle and back to the question relative to Russell, he's a big part of this decision. And as soon as we know, obviously, he'll know. But we can't exclude options yet until we see what the options are in free agency and in the draft. And it's the same discussion I had with him when the season ended. We have a real good relationship, communicate really well and clear. I think the players just wanna know. So as soon as we know, he'll know."

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Sean Payton has 'regret' for bashing Nathaniel Hackett ahead of 2023 season

Ahead of the 2023 season, Payton spoke with USA TODAY Sports about the previous Broncos regime. Nathaniel Hackett was fired after only 15 games as head coach after the front office got Wilson in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks.

Payton said Hackett did "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL." His comments rippled through the NFL world and received response from New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh and Hackett, who is now the offensive coordinator in the Big Apple.

" I really felt bad like man, it was too much," Payton said on Radio Row. "A lot of it for me was in defense of our team and Russell. I use this term, my mom used to say, 'You can only get a pound of flesh from someone.' And certainly, we had seen Russell get that from the media and our team get that. And so here it came, the topic came again about, 'Russ this, Russ couldn't do this' and I was like, 'Wait a minute, there were a lot of other dirty hands.' And I regret going a little too far.

"The motive behind it was just me reacting to the criticism they had gotten consistently over a period of time. So I'm appreciative of how hard it is and how difficult it is to coach and put a program together and a day afterwards, I felt bad about that. But, it all worked out and look, we ended up playing to 'em and losing to 'em. So but we're week to week in our preparation when we're playing these teams and it's emotional and sometimes you make mistakes. I felt like I made a mistake. Too much."

Sean Payton praises QB Baker Mayfield

While he wouldn't say what Wilson's future was, Payton had high praise for one specific free agent: Baker Mayfield. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. He struggled for four years in Ohio before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams and then was shipped to Florida. Mayfield earned his first Pro Bowl nod this season filling in for a retired Tom Brady under the guidance of head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator (now Carolina Panthers head coach) Dave Canales.

"All of us are like, well, we love Baker now. Aren't we? I'm looking for Baker. Where's he at? He's a free agent," Payton said. "I do think that it's like finding the right actor in the right movie script. If all the sudden, the script's right and the actor's correct and you can have a good movie. If either of those two are off, then it could be just average to below average. In Baker's case for instance with Todd Bowles and their offense, Canales and Tampa Bay, man, we saw elements of what we were hoping to see when he was drafted. Our league has taught us that guys can come around."