Denver Broncos To Release Russell Wilson
posted by Trevor Lloyd | March 12, 2024 | In SportsIn the span of two years, the marriage between quarterback Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos has completely and utterly fallen apart. It looks like both sides have signed the papers and are just waiting for the process to be finalized, as Wilson announced that the team will release him in the upcoming weeks. This is not what either side envisioned when the Broncos traded away a multitude of talent and two first round draft picks to the Seattle Seahawks to obtain Wilson’s services, thinking he was the missing piece to guide the team to a Super Bowl.
On top of giving away player assets Mile High awarded him a 5-year $245 million contract extension before he even played a snap in blue and orange. With expectations sky high the first year with Wilson at the helm, the 2022-2023 season however was a major disappointment. Wilson and the offense struggled mightily as he posted his worst season as a starter, tossing a career-low in touchdowns with 16 and 11 interceptions as the team finished with a putrid 5-12 record.
Off the field tension also played a part. According to some reports out of the team’s locker room, the 12-year quarterback didn’t do well on ingratiating himself with the team and players were upset with certain privileges Wilson was afforded.
In order to save their new long-term investment and get the best out of the former Seattle quarterback and the offense, the Broncos fired then-head coach Nathaniel Hackett and replaced him with Sean Payton for the 2023-2024 season. After a rough 1-5 start, the Broncos were able to turn it around, winning 5 games straight, where Wilson played solidly. The Broncos remained in playoff contention as a wild card team going into week 16.
However, Payton shocked fans and analysts alike when he announced that backup Jarrett Stidham would take over as the team’s quarterback for the remainder of the year in order to try to spark the offense. Payton said that his decision to bench the former Seahawk was strictly a football decision. However, Wilson denied these statements, and said that Payton sent him to the bench not because of play, but because he didn’t want to risk Wilson getting hurt and Denver having to pay him $37 million due to his injury clause in his contract, which Wilson refused to remove. According to Wilson, Payton tried to get the signal caller to remove the clause as far back as week 8 of the season, and Wilson refused which was the only thing that kept him starting. Even though the team did win a close game against the Chargers the week of Wilson’s benching the team were still eliminated from the playoffs that week via tiebreakers.
With the two parties going their separate ways, the Broncos are going to take $89 million cap hit and have to pay Wilson $39 million this year even though he will not take a snap for them. Now Wilson is on the lookout for a new quarterback-needy team that could use his talent and the Broncos will start what looks like the process of a rebuild that they have been putting off since the club 2015-2016 Super Bowl run.
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