At least the Broncos are putting some money on Wilson. Sources told Charles Robinson and Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports that the quarterback is being benched, but the team could move on this summer.
Spotrac says Wilson’s $37 million pay for 2025 is fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2024 league year. It is also guaranteed in cases of illness. The Broncos don’t want to close off any possible deals before the summer.
NFL Media and ESPN’s Adam Schefter also wrote about the move. There seems to be more to the story than what Schefter said. He said it was to get the offense going and see what backup Jarrett Stidham could do.
CNN’s Ian Rapoport said the move proved successful because of the 2025 pay and the injury guarantee.
Rapoport said that Wilson will not play in the Broncos’ next two games, not just this week. Payton, on the other hand, said that the change was mostly made to try to win games right now.
He told 9News Denver on Wednesday afternoon, “I understand all the talk and speculation that goes along with a move like that.” “Look, I can tell you that we’re really trying to win.”
There are economy and other things that matter in our game today, but the main reason for this, and this is a choice I’m making, is to get the offense going.
The Denver Broncos’ biggest choice this summer will be what to do with quarterback Russell Wilson. They gave us a sign about what’s to come by benching Wilson in favor of Jarrett Stidham on Wednesday, with two games left in the regular season.
Wilson signed a five-year, $242.6 million deal in 2022. If Wilson isn’t at quarterback by 2024, the team’s pay cap could suffer a lot. However, coach Sean Payton has been open about his dislike of the system.
Wilson has one of the best passer ratings and most touchdowns in the NFL. However, the Broncos are one of the worst teams in the league at converting third downs and going from goal to goal, and they are also 22nd in the red zone.
Also, it’s possible that the Broncos will miss the playoffs for the eighth straight year and end the season without a receiver with 1,000 yards.
Wilson has thrown for 300 yards once this season, in a 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. However, he has been more efficient and thrown fewer interceptions (8) than he did last year, when he had a career-low 16 scores, a career-high 55 sacks, and an interception rate of 11.
For most of the second part of the season, Payton has been furious about the offense. He even got angry with Wilson on the sidelines during the Detroit loss.
Payton said on Tuesday that the Broncos were “average to below average in a lot of things offensively,” even though Wilson had 26 touchdowns, which tied him for sixth place in the NFL.
It’s the first step toward that end goal. But if that’s the case, there are big choices and important roster-building problems that need to be addressed.
Wilson will have to pay the Broncos a lot of money in dead money over the next two years if they cut him. That really can’t be fixed, so that’s pay-cap space that can’t be used for players, even possible quarterback substitutes.
If they want to get a better quarterback than Wilson, the free agent crop looks thin, and the Broncos only have six picks in the April draft and no second-rounder.
Wilson could be let go after the season on June 1, but the Broncos would still have to pay him $85 million in dead money over two seasons. In 2024 and 2025, they would have to pay $35.4 million and $49.6 million, respectively.
They would also have to pay Wilson $39 million in cash in 2024. If the Broncos let Wilson go, Payton would probably have to find a cheap quarterback and try to win with a different way of putting together his team.