The Russell Wilson saga marches on for the Denver Broncos as we remain in the waiting days leading up to what lies ahead for his future. After an abrupt benching for Jarrett Stidham ended his 2023 season earlier than many expected, questions have lingered around how this team will approach the quarterback position for this summer.
However, while Denver has yet to make anything official, the writing is on the wall for what’s in store for both parties moving forward.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Legworld, the consensus around the NFL concludes that the Broncos will end up releasing the former Pro Bowl quarterback at some point during this offseason:
“The Broncos have said multiple times, most recently at the Super Bowl, that a formal decision on quarterback Russell Wilson will come “sooner rather than later.” And while almost no one in the league believes that will mean anything other than the Broncos releasing Wilson, doing so would leave plenty of salary cap damage — $85 million in dead money, according to Roster Management System — and an enormous question mark at quarterback.”
Wilson finished his 2023 campaign with a 7-8 record as a starter, where he posted 3,070 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, and eight interceptions on a 66.4% completion rate. While Russ took a massive step in the right direction from his previous season under Nathaniel Hackett, his performance didn’t bring enough to the table to earn any long-lasting staying power with Sean Payton.
A decision on the future of Wilson with Denver is expected to be made in the coming weeks. On March 17th, the contract for Russ becomes fully guaranteed on the Broncos’ books. If the plan is to eventually pivot off of the 35-year-old, we could assume that the move would be done before the large chunk of guarantees is in stone. The quarterback has a $35.4 million cap hit for the 2024 season and would enact $85 million in dead cap if released from the team before June 1st.
It makes the steps forward at the position that much more difficult to navigate for Denver with such a steep financial penalty implemented. Whether the front office opts to take a cheap quarterback on a rookie deal at 12th overall or decides to take a chance on a free agent signal caller remains to be seen. Regardless, there looks to be some compelling weeks ahead to watch as it concerns the Broncos.
