Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald inadvertently sparked a series of debates days before the team’s Week 3 matchup against the Washington Commanders. Macdonald was featured on a lengthy interview with Graham Bensinger, but days later a new controversial clip was shared.
The video revealed tension between Macdonald and Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton who accused the Seahawks of cheating in 2024. Macdonald revealed that Seattle utilized clips found on social media from Broncos training camp practices.
This sparked a debate on what is within the lines of NFL competition. Additionally, it appears that Macdonald believed this part of the conversation was off the record which created another debate on whether this clip should have been posted online.
Let’s explore the latest Seahawks controversy.
Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald Did Not Intend for Comments on Broncos HC Sean Payton to be Made Public
The more cleaner debate is that the Seahawks were within their rights to use social media clips that any team had access to given they were public videos. Not as clean is whether Macdonald’s comments should have ever been posted.
“It could get ugly between the Seahawks and Bensinger’s camp,” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio detailed in a September 23, 2026, story titled, “Mike Macdonald’s comments about Sean Payton weren’t intended for public consumption.” “As we understand it, the conversation was not intended by Macdonald for public consumption.
“The Seahawks, we’re told, didn’t even know that portion of the ‘more off than on’ the record discussion had been recorded until Tuesday morning,” Florio continued.
“The situation is another reminder that everything is potentially on the record, absent a clear agreement between the parties that it’s not. And while Bensinger’s people didn’t breach any journalistic rules by using it, the fact that it was posted could make future subjects more leery about agreeing to be interviewed.”
Seahawks Coach Mike Macdonald Comes Clean on Sean Payton Comments
During a September 23, press conference, Macdonald admitted that he was unaware that the clip would be made public. Macdonald revealed that he offered a direct apology to Payton for the comments.
“Honestly, I gotta be better in that moment for understanding, look, I’m responsible for what I say, really no matter the circumstance, whether you’re mic’d up, whether you’re not, whether you have some type of understanding,” Macdonald noted, per The Athletic.
“So I fell short in that moment. So it stings for me, frankly, but it’s something I’m definitely gonna learn from.”
Broncos HC Sean Payton Accused the Seahawks of Cheating
As for Macdonald’s controversial comments, the Seahawks coach revealed that Payton called Seahawks general manager John Schneider and threatened to go public with accusations. Seattle pushed back and threatened to sue Payton and the Broncos.
Ultimately, Payton did not go public with his claims, but now the conversation is making headlines in a way Macdonald did not intend.
“So, he called John (Schneider) and he basically like threatened to come out publicly and do it like a whole Patriot Spygate type of thing,” Macdonald said in the viral clip. “… We didn’t cheat.
“… He thought it was a Michigan thing or we had a plant and the whole thing, and so we had to like counter with him and say like, ‘Hey look, if you come out of this like we’re gonna sue you because it’s not true.'”
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