In Russell Wilson’s debut he begins with Pittsburgh Steelersthe veteran quarterback had a day. The Steelers destroyed Aaron Rodgers and New York Jetsand Wilson finished with 264 yards and two touchdowns, with zero interceptions.

Wilson also rushed for a touchdown en route to the Steelers’ 37-15 victory over the Jets. After watching the Steelers’ offense struggle for most of the season with Justin Fields at the helm — despite the wins — Wilson’s debut was impressive.

Denver Broncos fans aren’t trying too hard to keep up with Wilson, so to speak, with Bo Nix putting up some impressive performances himself this season and leading the team to a 5-3 start. But for those Broncos fans who wish the former quarterback well, it was good to see Wilson have some success in his first start since 2024.

Still, after the Week 7 game, Wilson touched on the subject of “all time great“coaches he played for, and Broncos head coach Sean Payton was conspicuously absent.

“I’m in a good place here in Pittsburgh. I’m excited about it and happy where my feet are. Just focusing on where you’re at right now. I look at it as a tremendous honor. I don’t look at it’s a thing river,” said Wilson live Yahoo Sports“Jori Epstein. “I can play for Pete Carroll and I can play for Mike Tomlin – two all-time greats.”

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The irony of Wilson’s omission of his head coach in Denver is that would have campaigned to have Carroll fired in Seattle and replaced by Payton. How much he’s inclined to believe, I’m not sure, but it’s there in the NFL zeitgeist.

It may also be true that Wilson’s one-year experience with Payton has stripped him of the adoration and respect he once had for the revered head coach. The Wilson-Payton experiment ended with a whimper when the Broncos benched Wilson late last season with two games left, which came shortly after the head coach gave the quarterback a verbal beating on the sideline at Detroit.

Wilson claimed Denver benched him because he wouldn’t accept a contract restructuring. The Broncos vehemently denied the allegations, and when the new league year came, Wilson was immediately released.

The Broncos have an NFL-record $85 million worth of salary cap space because the five-year, nearly quarter-billion-dollar extension Wilson signed shortly after being traded to Denver, wasn’t scheduled to start until 2024. The Broncos are paying Wilson north of $30 million to play for the Steelers this season.

If the level of production Wilson displayed in Week 7 continues, the Steelers will be thrilled with the financial arrangement of signing a former nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion for what amounts to the veteran minimum. The Steelers next game is Monday night at 2-5 New York Giants.

Based on reports closer to the Mile High City, Payton was eager to end the Wilson experiment — a trade that cost the Broncos dearly in both retained capital and relinquished personnel. Seattle Seahawksand the massive extension he was given, which has a huge impact on this team in 2024. Denver’s $81 million in total cap space this year is the most in the NFL, followed by Minnesota Vikings to $67.7 million.

More than half of that $81 million in dead cap space is due to Wilson’s contract. The ramifications forced the Broncos to lean at some positions last offseason and largely stay out of the free agent feeding frenzy.

But every dark cloud has a silver lining, as the Broncos have been forced to rely on the youth of the roster. The youth is developing quickly as a collective, with Nix leading the way as the team’s future franchise quarterback.

For now, Wilson doesn’t seem to consider Payton on the list of all-time head coaches he’s played for. I doubt Payton is losing any sleep over this.

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