Russell Wilson's Broncos career could be reaching its conclusion, a little less than 18 months after the 35-year-old arrived in Denver.
Sean Payton has decided to bench Russell Wilson and will turn to backup Jarrett Stidham for the final two games of the season, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday.
Wilson has enjoyed a better second year in Denver, throwing for 3,070 yards and 26 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. It seems the Broncos' front office is reconsidering the veteran signal-caller's future, even with the team still in the hunt for a potential postseason spot.
Schefter indicated that Wilson's benching had more to do with the fact that Denver had gone 1-3 in its last four games. However, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport provided additional context to the move. He labelled it as a decision aimed at "preserving financial flexibility in the offseason."
Wilson is one of the league's biggest names. And he's tended to justify his marquee status with impressive performances and playoff berths. That hasn't happened in recent times, however. And it seems like it has the Broncos ready to move on.
Here's what to know about the change in Denver.
Russell Wilson contract
The decision to bench Wilson is two-pronged, with Payton open about his frustration with the team's offence in recent weeks. Denver has averaged just 20.25 points in its past four games, a far cry from more explosive outings that preceded this dry spell.
"The push behind this, and it's the decision I'm making, is to get a spark offensively," Payton said. "If I didn't feel like [Stidham] gave us the chance to win, we wouldn't be making that move."
Wilson discussed the benching for the first time on Friday, detailing that the team approached him during the Week 9 bye about changing his contract. The quarterback admitted that he was "definitely disappointed" to find out the team's decision.
“They came up to me during the bye week and told me if I didn’t change my contract, I didn’t change my injury guarantee I’d be benched the rest of the year. … I was definitely disappointed.” pic.twitter.com/8keAn0jNSd
— 9NEWS Sports Denver (@9NEWSSports) December 29, 2023
"They came up to me during the bye week and beginning of the bye week, Monday or Tuesday, they told me if I didn’t change my contract, my injury guarantee, that I'd be benched the rest of the year," Wilson said. "I was definitely disappointed about it. It was a process for the whole bye week. We had just come off beating the Chiefs, I was excited for us fighting for the playoffs and getting on a hot streak. The NFLPA and NFL got involved or whatever at some point."
Still, Wilson's contract — and the potential albatross it could present to the Broncos' future — cannot be ignored.
While Wilson's contract guarantees him $39 million in 2024, it also includes a $37 million payout for 2025 that is fully guaranteed for injury through March 2024. So if Wilson were to suffer a significant injury in the final two weeks, the Broncos would run the risk of being on the hook for tens of millions more than they already are.
With Denver all but eliminated from playoff contention — the Broncos sit in 12th place in the AFC and would need an otherworldly collapse from the Chiefs to get in — it seems Denver's front office is looking to avoid that risk and look towards the future, one that very well could not include Wilson.
Interestingly enough, Stidham has been in this position before. Just last year, he was called upon to replace Derek Carr in Las Vegas towards the end of the campaign. The Raiders hoped to prevent Carr from suffering a major injury — which would cost them $32.9 million in 2024.
He maintained a positive bill of health, in the end. And it put Vegas in a great position to make a clean break with its longtime hurler in the offseason.
Denver could be looking for a similar outcome this summer.
In the big picture, Wilson's five-year deal with Denver is worth $242.6 million, of which about $85 million has already been paid out.
Russell Wilson stats 2023
Though production has been a problem for the Broncos' offence as a whole, Wilson's individual numbers aren't bad.
In fact, he enters Week 17 as the NFL's seventh-rated passer at 98.0 The QB just behind him, Lamar Jackson at 97.2, is the oddsmakers' new favorite to win the MVP.
| G | Comp | Att | Pct. | Yards | TD | INT | Rating |
| 15 | 297 | 447 | 66.4 | 3,070 | 26 | 8 | 98.0 |
Russell Wilson trade details
If this is indeed the end of the line for Wilson in Denver, the trade that brought him there will not look especially good for the Broncos upon reflection.
In total, four players and six draft picks traded hands in one of the biggest deals in NFL history. With the trades now finalised and the last player picked, here's what those picks turned into:
Broncos get:
- QB Russell Wilson
- 2022 fourth-round pick (DL Eyioma Uwazurike, Iowa State)
Seahawks get:
- QB Drew Lock
- DT Shelby Harris
- TE Noah Fant
- 2022 first-round pick (OT Charles Cross, Mississippi State)
- 2022 second-round pick (OLB Boye Mafe, Minnesota)
- 2022 fifth-round pick (OLB Tyreke Smith, Ohio State)
- 2023 first-round pick (CB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois)
- 2023 second-round pick (EDGE Derick Hall, Auburn)
Broncos playoff chances
Denver is teetering on the edge of playoff elimination but not there yet. If the Broncos win their final two games, they will still have a chance to qualify for the playoffs, though they would need extraordinary amounts of help to do so.