Pat Surtain II Weighs in on Nix & Payton's Infamous Sideline Exchange

In most quarters, former Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson's signing a one-year deal with the New York Giants will be met with a collective shrug of the shoulders. Only after being reminded that the Giants are on the Broncos' 2025 regular-season schedule do the levels of disinterest begin to dissipate.

After all, the Broncos already have made their bed when it came to footing the expensive bill for Wilson. His much-talked-about and hugely concussive cap hit is gone after next season concludes, and then the Wilson/Broncos book will be slammed shut. 

Hindsight is famously 20/20, but Wilson and head coach Sean Payton were never going to be a solid pairing for Denver in the long run. Payon's history with quarterbacks also told us that he needed his own hand-picked man to take over the controls under center. 

An offseason's worth of due diligence unearthed and subsequently nurtured Oregon quarterback Bo Nix to a 10-win playoff season in his spectacular rookie year. While it's understood that Nix and Payton still have plenty left to learn and accomplish, the excellent fit and sparky dynamics between the young quarterback and Payton couldn't be any more apparent than it is to Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

"They get along so well because they both understand the common theme, and that's winning," Surtain told RG's DJ Siddiqi. "They both want to win, and they both want to get the best out of each other, and I think they respect each other in that way, in that nature." 

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For proof of Payton's previous sheer incompatibility with Denver's previous starting quarterback, one need only cast one's mind back to when he exploded at Wilson during a blowout loss against the Detroit Lions toward the end of the 2023 season, the veteran passer's second lame-duck campaign in Mile High City. 

Indeed, Payton was never sold on Wilson as his quarterback, and his attempt to press the former Super Bowl winner's buttons seemed to have no effect on his on-field performance. The stark contrast between how Wilson took Payton's public berating lying down couldn't be more self-evident than when Nix got right in the grill of his head coach during the early stages of the Broncos' Week 5 home win over the Las Vegas Raiders last year.

Nix's heartfelt sideline reaction to Payton sent a positive shockwave through the Broncos locker room at the time, and Surtain believes it also set a much more fiery and competitive tone for all concerned. 

"Obviously, everybody was talking about that little confrontation on the sideline—but I wouldn't call it a confrontation," Surtain told RG. "Two guys who want to do what's best for the team. They both have their different views on things, but when you have two guys like that, it just brings respect upon both of them and it makes the team better." 

For his part, Wilson has kept quiet about the internal friction that ended up boiling over so spectacularly in the Motor City, leading to his eventual benching with two games left to go in the 2023 season.

That probably tells its own tale. But it's plain to see that Payton wants his quarterback to react more assertively like Nix and far less like Wilson's energy-deficient acquiescence on the sideline in the Motor City. Without comment on Wilson, Surtain favors showing some spunk and pushback when it's required. The All-Pro corner likes the dynamic Nix and Payton showed the Broncos last year. 

"At the end of the day, we realize as a player that's pushing the coach towards success, and as a coach pushing the player towards success," Surtain told Siddiqi. "That brings the utmost confidence in themselves." 

Having shared a locker room with Wilson for two years, and also after being coached by the uninspiring Nathaniel Hackett prior to Payton's arrival, Surtain seems to prefer collaborators and fellow leaders who push the envelope. Having a proven winner like Payton as his head coach fits with Surtain's championship ambitions, and it's also helping him get over the losing culture of the not-too-distant past.

"He's a great coach at the end of the day," Surtain told RG. "When he came in, he came in with the confidence to bring in a winning culture to the Broncos organization and to the team. The stuff that he possesses, the qualities that he has as a coach—it's what brings us to this level of making the playoffs. His demeanor, his experience, his confidence, his personality—I think all those lead to team success."