Sean Payton took over as the Denver Broncos head coach earlier this year. Shortly afterward, he made headlines by mentioning the Washington Commanders while doing his rounds on radio row ahead of Super Bowl LVII.
Why would the new head coach of the Broncos mention the Commanders?
Buy Commanders TicketsAdam Schein of SiriusXM NFL Radio asked Payton if he ever considered returning to the Saints in 2022 after he walked away for a year.
Payton acknowledged that it was a tricky situation because the Saints coach, Dennis Allen, was someone he had hired. Instead, Payton said he was focused on other teams, such as the Broncos, Cardinals and Texans.
And then Payton dropped this bombshell.
“Everyone’s waiting to see what happens in Washington,” Payton said. “And there was some interest from some potential ownership groups that are gonna be bidding on, that currently had bid on that team, that were getting ahead of the game saying, ‘Hey, if we get awarded this team, would you?’ And so there were a lot of different things at play.”
Schein responded, “that’s interesting.”
“That’s a place that’s had great tradition,” Payton said. “Like, when I came into the league, Adam, my first two years were Philly. My next four years were New York Giants. And then my next three were the Cowboys. My whole entire NFL career prior to New Orleans was in the NFC, the NFC East. And what happened to that program?”
Payton predicted better things were ahead for the Commanders, who were officially sold from Daniel Snyder to Josh Harris in July.
“Listen, that place, my uncle loved the Washington franchise,” Payton said. “Last year, we go there to play, and pregame, I’m looking up in the crowd. A third of the fans are Saints fans. And I’m like, ‘What happened to this place?’ That was one of the six pillars.”
Most of what Payton said was true. However, that first paragraph was more than interesting. Did he not realize that the Commanders have a head coach? Ron Rivera has been an NFL head coach since 2011. He’s been Washington’s head coach since 2020.
Rivera knows he needs to win in 2023. You don’t think the ever-competitive Rivera heard Payton’s comments and had a thought or two of his own?
Payton’s claims about potential Washington owners contacting him have never been substantiated. Nor do we know which potential owners may have contacted him.
Fans can complain about Rivera as Washington’s head coach, as there have been missteps along the way, and his record is 23-27-1. That’s fair game.
However, one coach, whether it’s a current coach or retired coach, going public saying a team with a sitting head coach is courting him is wrong and unprofessional.
Rivera and Payton have a long history of coaching against one another. Both were in the NFC South for nine seasons as Rivera coached the Panthers twice per season against Payton’s Saints. For the most part, the two teams were even during that period. There doesn’t appear to be any bad blood between the two.
While Rivera is too professional and classy to ever comment on the topic, you can bet he remembers what Payton said. And while you want to win every game, defeating the Broncos this week would mean a little bit more for Rivera and the Commanders.
