Former first-round pick flames Sean Payton for having an 'ego problem'

When Ryan Leaf says you have an "ego problem", it might be time to check your ego at the door and re-evaluate your entire life. While appearing on Up & Adams, the former Washington State star and No. 2 overall pick by the then-San Diego Chargers laid it into the Denver Broncos organization big time. Although some of his commentary was a bit scathing, I don't think Leaf is that far off with it.

First off, you really need to see the two-minute video over on Bleacher Report in which Leaf harpoons the Broncos like a whale off the coast of 1840s New England. He said a lot, and I will try to unpack it all to help paint a clearer picture. The first thing Leaf said to Adams was he did not understand why the Broncos decided to move off Russell Wilson like they did, especially with all the money attached.

Leaf then went on a minute-long rant questioning why general manager George Paton still had a job. I totally agree with Leaf's sentiment here because everything Paton has touched since taking over in Denver has turned into a flaming pile of crap that probably singed his eyebrows off because his team stinks! The Wilson debacle, the Nathaniel Hackett catastrophe, the Sean Payton mess, it is all there..

Regardless of if Paton has dirt on the Walton-Penners, the biggest thing Leaf had to say was that Payton's ego is massive, out of control and exactly what the Broncos do not need right now at all.

"I think he's probably got the worst type of ego for a head coach in the NFL right now. So that's going to be a problem for this team."

When Adams asked a follow up on Payton's deteriorated relationship with Wilson, Leaf chalked it up to Payton already having preconceived notions about the Broncos' former starting quarterback. Leaf implied Payton was going to move on from him anyway, which is weird because wasn't a huge reason behind taking the Broncos job in the first place was to work with Wilson? It doesn't make any sense!

Leaf did finish his answer by saying that Payton must have been granted some assurances by Broncos ownership to do whatever the hell he needed to make this team good again. His job security must be tremendous. Otherwise, how could anyone afford to take on that much dead money? Leaf may be bullish on Bo Nix as a starter, but he doesn't think this team will be any good, and neither do I.

Ryan Leaf says Sean Payton has the worst ego possible for an NFL HC

While we all know about Leaf's previous life as a talented, but emotionally flawed former quarterback, he has proven to be quite the football analyst since getting his life back on track after prison. He may not be the right messenger for this, but what are the Broncos doing, honestly? I have no earthly idea. Although I do agree that Nix can have success in this league, I don't know if Payton is the right mentor.

While y'all were probably watching better football than me, I saw for years Payton devolve into whatever version of a head coach he is today. 2009 was a long time ago. He had a vise-like grip on the New Orleans Saints franchise ever since winning the Super Bowl. Having Drew Brees as his guiding light at quarterback allowed him to conduct himself like a petulant child at times on their sidelines.

His antics, cocky attitude, and the fact that he was guilty as sin in BountyGate made everybody in the NFC South despise him and his franchise. Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay can all rally around a three-word phrase I cannot utter on this medium. Prior to Payton, nobody cared about the Aints. His swift departure into retirement set Dennis Allen and the rest of the team up for unavoidable failure.

Payton then went to TV for a year, and was best buddies with Colin Cowherd over on FOX. Rather than sit back and enjoy life as a fairly decent football analyst, he took the worst job he could find in Denver, hoping he could be the one to return the Broncos to their former glory. Maybe one day he can? But now, he is in division dominated by Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs.

At the end of the day, you win together as a team. Even though Mahomes is the greatest thing since sliced bread, he and everyone knows the Chiefs won Super Bowl 58 because Steve Spagnuolo's defense. That unit was the deciding factor in that Houstonian showdown with San Francisco. Nobody is bigger and more important than the team in Kansas City, although owner Clark Hunt is a problem...

Somewhere along the way, Payton forgot their was no I in team. Me, which is a synonym, or another first-person pronoun, I don't know, I just write, served as an effective replacement for Payton. This is going to be a four-win team, a franchise that could be bad enough to be in the running for the No. 1 pick. But instead of being patient, they reached on Nix and will no longer need a Carson Beck-type.

Outside of a few Louisianans who are still suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, Payton is not adored.