Newly-minted Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton addressed a rumor concerning himself and the vacant Arizona Cardinals head coaching job, denying a rumor that he had avoided the job because he did not want to work with Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. The idea that Payton wanted to avoid Murray was brought up Terry Bradshaw, who said during a radio appearance on Tuesday that Payton did not want to go to the Cardinals because "he did not want to work with that quarterback."
Speaking during an appearance on Up & Adams, Payton denied the idea that he did not like Murray, attributing Bradshaw's comments to the Hall of Fame Steelers quarterback wishing to continue doing television work with the former Super Bowl-winning head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
"I don't hate Kyler Murray," Payton said. "... I like Kyler Murray, my son is his biggest fan. After the interview (with the Cardinals), my son sent me a combination of all his high school throws, college throws. I think the other day Terry Bradshaw was interviewed -- I love Terry, that group that I work with has been amazing. But when Terry gets interviewed, you just go [gasp], you hold your breath because you don't know what's gonna come out.
"I think from Terry's perspective, I know that he would have felt better if I was coming back to Fox. And so there wasn't gonna be anyone good enough, in his eyes, for me. He was gonna look at it like 'He's not going there, he's not gonna go there, he's not going there.' I saw him last night and I'm like 'Terry, I appreciate the kind words, and I appreciate you waiting until after my press conference to completely blow this story up. But no, I think he's extremely talented."
Since being chosen No. 1-overall in the 2019 NFL Draft and winning Offensive Rookie of the Year that same season, Murray's talent and ability have never been in question. However, mounting concerns about Murray's long-term durability have been compounded by problems that have emerged with the Cardinals quarterback's attitude and work ethic.
When Murray was signed to a long-term contract extension last offseason, it was reported that the team had included a "homework clause" to incentivize him doing independent game study, implying that Murray would not have done so otherwise. The clause was later removed after backlash.
As the Cardinals' season went off the rails, reports emerged that the relationship between Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury had deteriorated, and one anonymous Cardinals veteran would later say that the team had "created a monster" by giving Murray a huge contract, and that the former Heisman Trophy winner had "felt less compulsion to study his game plan or to fulfill the expectations of the franchise QB position" than he previously had. Not helping matters, Murray suffered a torn ACL near the end of the season, putting his status for the start of 2023 into question.
Speaking about the Cardinals' head coaching job, Payton would go on to draw parallels between the challenges present in Arizona and the challenges the Broncos now face -- specifically improving the culture within the building. Payton takes over the woe-be-gone Broncos after a complete disaster of a 2022 season that saw a mega-trade for quarterback Russell Wilson blow up
