On December 28th, Russell Wilson, the quarterback for the Denver Broncos was rumored to be benched for the remainder of the NFL season. It was also reported that Wilson is expecting to be cut by the Denver Broncos in March, and so entering the 2024 NFL Free Agency.
Reportedly he knew of his fate with the organization for nearly two months now. The Broncos reached Wilson representatives in late October about the injury guarantee clause that Wilson has in his contract, which guaranteed him $37 million. Now, after losing to one of their rivals, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Broncos are out of the playoffs and their future turns into finding a new quarterback.
Who Is Russell Wilson?
Russell Wilson, born on November 29, 1988, joined the Denver Broncos on March 16, 2022, in a trade from the team that drafted him, the Seattle Seahawks. On September 1, 2022, Russell Wilson signed a five-year, $245 million contract extension with the Broncos.
The Russell Wilson experiment has been a failure for the Denver Broncos, which means that both the player and the team should go separate ways.
The decision to bench Russell Wilson comes after the Denver Broncos lost any realistic shot at making the playoffs after losing to the New England Patriots, giving them a 7-8 record and just a 1.4% chance of reaching the postseason. Wilson has improved after a very irregular 2022 Denver Broncos debut, finishing his season with 26 touchdowns, 8 interceptions and a 98.00 passer rating, comparing to 16 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and an 84.4 passer rating in the 2022 season which proved to be his best in the last three years.
With Wilson in the center, the Broncos went just 4-11 and 5-12 overall, in 2022 in what was the worst season of his career.
The Broncos had hope that after adding Payton as head coach this past offseason, that Russell would regain his Pro Bowl form, but even with a better season from Russell, the Denver Broncos offense has struggled overall, ranking 16th in scoring, 20th on third down, 22nd in red zone, 31st in goal-to-go situations and 25 in yards per game.
All of this resulted that head coach, Payton, began to get fed up with Wilson and decided to bench him.
Let’s not forget that Wilson is 35 years old and very expensive (5th among annual QB earners), behind Bengals Joe Burrow, Chargers Justin Herbert, Ravens Lamar Jackson and Eagles Jalen Hurts. Wilson is getting paid $49 million a year, compared to Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes, who is getting paid $45 million a year.
Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton told reporters that trying to spark the offense was the main reason for the quarterback change, and not Wilson contract.
“I understand all the speculation and everything that surrounds a move like that, and I can tell you we’re desperately trying to win,” Payton said. “Sure, in our game today there are economics and all those things, but the number one push behind this — and it’s a decision I’m making — is to get a spark offensively.
“Obviously it’s difficult and all of us feel like, ‘Man, we didn’t do enough.’ But one of the things we saw when we signed Stidham in the offseason was — not only film from preseason games but regular season games — he’s a guy that I’m anxious to see play. If I didn’t feel like he gave us a chance to win, we wouldn’t be making that move.”
Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson, right sits on the bench with Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham (4) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Free Agency Or Not?
If the Denver Broncos decide to release Wilson before March 17, the team would be on the hook for a big $85 million in dead cap money for the 2024 season. If they decide to release him only after June 1st for designation, then the transaction would come with $35.4 million in dead money for the 2024 season and $49.6 million in dead money for the 2025 season.
A big factor in all of this is that injured players cannot be outright released without a negotiated injury settlement, which also explains Denver decision of benching Wilson for the final last two games of the season. For example, the Raiders also demoted former starter Derek Carr, who also had a similar injury guarantee in his contract, at the end of 2022 before releasing him in the offseason.
Raheem Mostert gets honest about Russell Wilson getting benched:
"He really approaches the job as if its life or death. The situation is just not right. You can't just bench him. It just doesn't make sense to me."
Did the #Broncos make the right call?#NFL | #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/KMhfPsQFgS
— Relentlessly Motivated with Raheem Mostert (@TheRaheemPod) January 4, 2024
What Happened For Broncos After Benching Wilson?
On the final afternoon of 2023, the Denver Broncos played the Chargers in what was the first game after Wilson getting benched.
Let’s recall that the decision to bench Wilson was to try and get a spark from the offense, and although the Broncos won 16-9 against the Chargers, the only spark seen was from the defense.
The new starting quarterback for the Broncos, Jarrett Stidham threw for 224 yards and a touchdown in what was an uneven performance during his first start in place of Russell Wilson.
In the first meeting with the media, Russell Wilson mentioned that he was “disappointed and surprised” by coach Sean Payton decision to bench him for the remaining of the season.
Now, the Raiders definitely out of the playoffs after their 8th straight defeated against rivals Las Vegas Raiders.
Raiders' win streak against the Broncos continues.#RaiderNation https://t.co/zslqqZVNqN
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) January 8, 2024
“I felt like we were doing something special and rolling,” said Wilson.
In his interview with media on Friday, Wilson said he was approached by the team after the Broncos’ Week 8 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs and told if he didn’t move back his injury guarantee in his contract that he’d be benched.
“We beat the Chiefs. They came up to me at the beginning of the bye week — Monday or Tuesday — and told me that if I didn’t change my contract, my injury guarantee, that I’d be benched for the rest of the year … I was definitely disappointed about it,” said Wilson.
“I wasn’t going to take away injury guarantees,” he said. “This game is such a physical game. I’ve played for 12 years and that matters to me.”
Looking Into The Future
If Week 17 was indeed Wilson last appearance at Empower Field as a member of the Denver Bronco, an 11-19 record, a trade that cost Denver four draft picks is probably all that sums Wilson legacy in a Denver Broncos uniform.
“The door remains open with Russ”
– Broncos GM George Paton on Russell Wilson potentially returning next season pic.twitter.com/WshiaA8pcQ
— DNVR Sports (@DNVR_Sports) January 9, 2024
