The Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson are headed for a divorce. Broncos head coach Sean Payton announced Wednesday that the team is benching Wilson for the final two games of the regular season. Who will start in his place?
Broncos Bench Russell Wilson
Sean Payton on benching Russell Wilson for Jarrett Stidham: “We’re desperately trying to win” pic.twitter.com/mTSP759hND
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) December 27, 2023
Jarrett Stidham will start for the Broncos this Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. Wilson will dress and serve as the team’s No. 2 quarterback. In 2022, Stidham replaced Derek Carr in Oakland for the final two games of the season after Josh McDaniels benched the veteran QB.
The move comes days after the Broncos’ postseason chances cratered to 7% with a 26-23 loss to the New England Patriots, according to NFL.com.
Wilson’s numbers have been above average in certain categories, including top-10 in touchdown passes (26). However, Wilson has thrown for 3,070 yards with a 66.44 completion percentage, his lowest total in 12 seasons. Denver is 16th in scoring (21.8 points/game) and 20th on third down (36.7%).
Reporter: “It looks like Russ is taking the brunt of the blame.”
Sean Payton’s full answer: pic.twitter.com/7dM4Hz8b38
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 27, 2023
Will Denver Move On From Russell Wilson?
Sources to @BleacherReport: The #Broncos threatened to bench Russell Wilson weeks ago if he didn’t remove his injury guarantees.
Russell Wilson’s benching by the Broncos today is solely financially related and has been in the works for weeks, per multiple sources with direct… pic.twitter.com/pmq172Cm1H
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 27, 2023
Payton told reporters that the Broncos are “desperately trying to win” and not benching Wilson for financial reasons.
However, Wilson’s benching was financially motivated, according to Jordan Schultz. After being traded from the Seahawks, Wilson signed a Wilson signed a five-year, $242 million contract extension with the Broncos before the first game of the 2022 season.
Wilson has $39 million guaranteed for 2024. The Super Bowl-winning quarterback has an additional $37 million in injury guarantees for 2025 that will become guaranteed no matter what in early March.
Schultz reported that the Broncos approached Wilson two days after their win over the Chiefs on October 29 and “threatened to bench him” if he didn’t defer his injury guarantee date. Schultz described the saga between the Broncos and Wilson as a “nasty situation.”
Benching Wilson was the first step toward a breakup, as Denver will likely have a new starting quarterback in 2024.
Designating Wilson as a post-June 1 release is one option. In that scenario, the Broncos would owe $85 million in dead money spread over two seasons, and Wilson would be obligated to $39 million in cash for 2024.
Trading Wilson before June 1 would result in $68 million in dead money for Denver unless the team trading for Wilson would pay his $22 million option bonus.
.@Schultz_Report joins us to give us exclusive insight on what led to the benching of Russell Wilson. pic.twitter.com/6tIN46z7Bv
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) December 27, 2023
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