Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson was on the bench as his Denver Broncos were eliminated from playoff contention despite beating the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
The reasoning? Wilson was benched by Denver because he would not eliminate the injury guarantees from his bloated contract. At the very least, those are the reports we’re reading after head coach Sean Payton made the decision.
Much like what we saw with Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders to conclude last season, the expectation has been that Denver’s decision to bench Wilson will end his career with the Broncos.
Not so fast.
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday that there is still a chance that Wilson could return to the Broncos on a re-worked contract next season.
“Sources from both sides paint a different picture. Denver will only move on from Wilson if it has a better option, as the cost of keeping him is roughly similar to the cost of moving on. Neither members of the Broncos brass, nor Payton, has ruled out a return,” report on Russell Wilson and the Broncos. “And Wilson, those close to him say, signed for seven years, not two years. If Payton ultimately decides he’s their best option at QB, Wilson would be back to fix it all.”
To say that this is surprising would be an understatement. Denver’s brass, Payton included, were under fire by the NFLPA and others after opting to bench Wilson ahead of Week 17. In fact, the union is threatening legal action over the move.
“It has come to our attention that the Denver Broncos recently informed Mr. Wilson and his Certified Contract Advisor that if Mr. Wilson would not renegotiate his Player Contract to relinquish certain salary guarantees, the Broncos would remove him from the starting lineup,” the NFLPA wrote a letter to the Broncos.
Related: Ideal Russell Wilson landing spots in 2024
Russell Wilson stats (2023): 66% completion, 3,070 yards, 26 TD, 8 INT
As you can see, Wilson played pretty darn good football in his second season with the Broncos. It came after an initial campaign in Denver in which he threw just 16 touchdowns compared to 11 interceptions.
At issue here is his bloated contract. Denver signed Wilson to a whopping five-year, $242.6 million contract shortly after acquiring him from the Seattle Seahawks ahead of the 2022 campaign. Cutting him with a post-June 1 designation would create a whopping $35 million dead cap hit for the 2024 season alone with further financial ramifications.