DENVER — The Broncos on Monday notified quarterback Russell Wilson he will be released when the new NFL season officially opens next Wednesday, thus bringing closure to the most unfortunate transaction in team history.
Broncos general manager George Paton took a big swing trying to hit a quarterback home run. But as often happens with a big swing, it missed.
By releasing Wilson now, the Broncos essentially will pay him $124 million for two years of service and 11 wins.
Not bad work if you can find it.
It was Broncos' head coach Sean Payton who notified Wilson of the team's intentions to release him while Paton called Wilson's agent Mark Rodgers with the news. Wilson's lengthy social media post thanking various members of the Broncos' organization -- but not Paton, who brought Wilson to Denver, or owner Greg Penner, who wrote the paychecks, or Payton or any other Broncos' coach -- minutes after his release shows he was prepared for it.
The timing of the release means the Broncos will split their dead cap hit between the 2024 and 2025 seasons. The split will either be $53 million in 2024 and $32 million in 2025, or $35.4 million in 2024 and $49.6 million in 2025, a source told 9NEWS.
For it wasn’t just the trade that made this transaction a terrible disappointment but the contract extension the Broncos negotiated with Wilson before he ever played a down for the team.
Looking back, it seems logical Paton had initially targeted Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers for a possible trade during the 2022 offseason. How else to explain Paton’s hiring of Packers’ offensive coordinator and Rodgers’ favorite Nathaniel Hackett to become the Broncos’ head coach in January 2022?
When nothing materialized with Rodgers, Paton turned his attention to Wilson, who was in the middle of a messy departure from Seattle. Wilson had spent the first 10 seasons of his career in Seattle, earning 9 Pro Bowl berths and winning more games (124 counting the postseason) through his first 10 years than any quarterback in NFL history.
He appeared to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory when he waived his no-trade clause to join the Broncos. The terms of the deal with the Seahawks: The Broncos surrendered two first-round draft picks (one in 2022, one in 2023), two second-round picks (one in 2022, one in 2023), a fifth-round selection and veterans Noah Fant, a starting tight end, starting defensive lineman Shelby Harris and former starting turned back quarterback Drew Lock in exchange for Wilson and a fourth-round selection.
Even the fourth-round pick hasn't worked out as the Broncos used it on defensive tackle Eyioma Uwazurike, who barely played his rookie year and was suspended his entire second season for gambling.
When the deal came down, it seemed all but the most skeptical of Broncos Country celebrated the move. The Broncos were finally going to resolve their quarterback position that had been a problem since Peyton Manning retired after the team’s Super Bowl 50 season in 2015.
As it turned out, Wilson not only wasn’t the answer to the quarterback problem, the Broncos made it worse by giving him a contract extension that paid him $57 million in his first year of 2022 ($50 million in signing bonus), $28 million in his second season of 2023 and are still on the hook to pay him a guaranteed $39 million for the 2024 season.
“As we move forward, we are focused on building the strongest team possible for the 2024 season and beyond,’’ Payton and Paton said in a joint statement. “We are excited to improve this offseason and will have the flexibility toter through the draft and free agency.”
Almost from the start, when the Broncos gave acquiesced to Wilson's request for his own office and personal coaching and training staff at team headquarters, it seemed like an awkward arrangement. The Broncos went 4-11 in his first season as he threw 16 touchdowns against 11 interceptions.
When Hackett was fired the day after a Christmas Day debacle in Los Angeles, interim head coach Jerry Rosburg asked Wilson to give up his office and keep his personnel staff away from team headquarters for the final two games of the 2022 season. To Wilson's credit, he complied.
Payton let it be known upon his hiring as new Broncos' head coach there would be no special privileges for the quarterback. When the Broncos got off to a 1-5 start, Payton started thinking of replacing Wilson with Stidham. But then the Broncos went on a five-game winning streak thanks largely to a defensive takeaway spree and the QB switch didn't happen until after a Christmas Eve home loss to lowly New England all but knocked Denver out of playoff contention.
Wilson dressed as the Broncos' No. 2 quarterback for the final two games but didn't play. When Wilson blamed the benching on a threat the team made to him during a bye week negotiating session, there was little doubt he would not return to the Broncos in 2024.
Ultimately, there were two reasons for Wilson's release: One, the Broncos don’t have to pay him his scheduled $37 million in 2025, which they would have if he was still on their roster March 17. Two, Payton – who replaced the fired Hackett in 2023 – became increasingly exasperated with Wilson during their one season together. Even though Wilson improved dramatically over his first year with the Broncos -- he finished ranked 27th among NFL passers in 2022 but catapulted to No. 6 among full-time quarterbacks in 2023 on the strength of 26 touchdown passes against 8 interceptions -- the head coach-quarterback relationship devolved into Payton angrily shouting at Wilson on the sidelines during back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions. Payton later benched Wilson in favor of backup Jarrett Stidham for the final two games of the season.
Wilson claimed he was benched for contractual reasons, saying he was threatened during the midseason bye week that he was threatened of the benching if he didn't move his injury guarantee.
“Tough times don’t last but tough people do,” Wilson wrote on his social media account Monday after his release. “God’s got me. I’m excited for what’s next.”
The Broncos will now turn to free agency and the draft to bring in one or two more quarterbacks to compete with Stidham for the starting quarterback position in 2024. Free agents include Sam Darnold, Mason Rudolph, Ryan Tannehill and Jacoby Brissett. The Broncos held formal interviews with at least eight top draft-eligible quarterbacks at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis last week. The eight: Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels. J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., Michael Pratt and Spencer Rattler.
But there are also mid-round quarterbacks Payton may like. That group includes Joe Milton, Sam Hartman, Jordan Travis and Devin Leary.
What's stunning is not all the damage the Broncos took on by releasing Wilson. What's stunning is the Broncos decided they are better off without Wilson despite all the damage left in his wake.
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