Not only will the decision to trade for Russell Wilson, then pay him a five-year, $245 million contract before later benching him cost the Denver Broncos millions in sunk costs, it has also hurt the franchise’s reputation. That includes head coach Sean Payton, who previously won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints but abandoned his team after losing interest over a bad salary cap situation.
Yet, now Payton has dug his own hole by being associated with the messy benching of Wilson, where the Broncos threatened him with either deferring his contract guarantees or losing his job as starting quarterback. It’s a very disrespectful move to a nine-time Pro Bowl QB, who some felt was on track to make the Hall of Fame.
Naturally, teams, players, agents, and executives have taken notice of how the Broncos have handled this situation, and it’s set to impact their ability to recruit top talent to Denver.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, several agents around the NFL now believe the Broncos may be “forced to overpay” free agents just to get them to come to Denver, all because of how Coach Payton and the team handled the Wilson situation.
That makes a tough situation even worse for the Broncos, who will already be facing a tight cap crunch once they move on from Wilson’s contract, with up to $50 million in dead cap money left behind.
Related: Russell Wilson confirms Denver Broncos’ cold-hearted plan to get rid of him