With Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, the Broncos lost a realistic chance of making the playoffs, falling to 7-8 and having just a 1.4% chance of making the postseason as 2023 comes to a close. They currently have quarterback Russell Wilson on the bench for the last two games.
The Broncos insist the decision to turn to backup Jarrett Stidham is intended to give the offense a “spark” after going 1-3. It has nothing to do with the QB contract., by Josina Anderson, CBS Sports Headquarters Senior NFL Insider. But the writing is on the wall: Wilson had recently dodged questions about his future in Denver beyond 2023, but if the team wanted him to move, he would have been injured in the final two games. , the Broncos wouldn’t have been able to seamlessly release their QB after the season.
Why did Sean Payton go from Wilson to Stidham?
“All I can say is we are desperately trying to win,” the head coach said. Via 9News Sports in Denver. “The biggest driver of this and the decisions I’m making are trying to find a spark on the offensive end. Obviously it’s difficult and we all think, ‘Oh, we’re not good enough. But one of them is, what we saw when we signed Stidham in the offseason, we saw it in preseason games as well as regular season games, he didn’t play. He’s a guy I’m looking forward to watching.
“If we didn’t feel like he gave us a chance to win, we wouldn’t have made that move.”
According to The Athletic, Wilson is expected to be fired in March. He reportedly knew of his fate with the organization for nearly two months. The Broncos contacted Wilson’s agent in late October if Wilson did not postpone his injury guarantee trigger date of 2025 ($37 million guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year).
Wilson has definitely improved since his shaky Broncos debut in 2022, coming off Week 16 with 26 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 98.0 passer rating, his best performance in three years. However, Denver’s offense has struggled overall, ranking 16th in points and 25th in yards per game. And then there’s the QB’s lucrative contract, with a hefty $245 million deal set, which would be $35.4 million against the 2024 salary cap.
Will Payton and the Broncos’ relatively new ownership group already prefer to press the reset button under center? of course. Again, Wilson has improved this year, but he’s 35 years old and very expensive (5th among annual QB acquisitions).but can Will Denver move on? Could Payton & Co. release Wilson from his contract after the 2023 season?
The answer is Yes, but may not save Denver much money in the short term.
Here are the details: Wilson is currently under contract through 2028, but only money through 2024 is guaranteed. That said, his full 2025 salary ($37 million) is guaranteed if he remains on the Broncos’ roster at the beginning of the next league year. (March 17), by Over the Cap. Therefore, Denver will likely make a decision on the QB’s future by then.
Option: The Broncos could permanently release Wilson by March 17, but doing so would actually cost them $49.6 million in 2024. Denver is already expected to be at least $18 million over the cap in 2024, so it will be difficult to waive him outright. It’s not logical. However, there is a good chance that he will be designated for release after June 1st.. In that scenario, Denver would burn up Wilson’s 2024 salary ($35.4 million), but actually avoid any financial hit to the cap in 2024. In other words, he won’t save anything right away, but he could save millions from 2024 onwards.
The other option, which is much less likely, is to trade Wilson. It’s not like there’s going to be a market for QBs. After bouncing back from 2022, he likely regained some of that value to another NFL team. However, he would be an immediate $32.6 million loss against the Broncos’ 2024 cap if traded before June 1. Denver could sign him after June 1st to save $17 million, the best economic scenario of parting ways with the QB, but that would require starting free agency from the start of free agency to find a trade partner. You’ll have to wait until much later in the summer.
Another factor in all of this is Wilson’s health for the remainder of 2023. Injured players cannot be completely released without at least some injury settlement negotiations. That’s why Denver benched Wilson for the last two games. The Raiders specifically demoted former starter Derek Carr, who had similar injury guarantees in his contract, at the end of 2022 before releasing him in the offseason. However, Kerr’s benching almost ensured their eventual dissolution. That seems to be happening in Denver.