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As recently as last week, some in the media were suggesting there was a way the Broncos and quarterback Russell Wilson could continue their relationship in 2024. That’s not happening. That will not happen.
The die was cast the moment Wilson was benched. The decision to bench him before Denver was mathematically eliminated from the 2023 postseason constitutes a proclamation to the world that he is not, in coach Sean Payton’s opinion, a franchise quarterback.
Which means they don’t want to pay you as such. Which means they won’t pay him a fully guaranteed $37 million in 2025. He’s already owed $39 million in 2024. They’ll cut him after the league year begins, designating the move as a post-June 1 transaction, They will receive the salary hit. during 2024 and 2025, avoid the 2025 salary and move forward.
That’s what’s happening. In any case, the recent comments from Wilson to Brandon Marshall confirm it. Wilson says enough to irritate the Broncos by asking them if they asked him to waive his injury guarantee (they didn’t) and if the NFL acknowledged that the request to defer the vesting date of his 2025 injury guarantee was “ illegal” (the Broncos would say that never happened).
If there was any doubt, consider this quote from Payton at his Tuesday press conference held in conjunction with the Scouting Combine.
“I saw this humorous meme the other day where there’s a Broncos fan wearing a shirt with like eight quarterback names crossed on it and he’s drinking the quarterback Kool-Aid,” Payton said. “Our job is to make sure the next one doesn’t have a line going through it.”
The next.
The next. One.
That’s the closest the Broncos have come to confirming that it will be a farewell for Russ. It will be interesting to see where he goes next. It will be interesting to see what the Broncos do next.
It makes an interesting offseason even more interesting.