The recent move by the Denver Broncos to sideline their renowned quarterback Russell Wilson for the remaining matches of the 2023-24 season seems to be more of a financial stratagem rather than a pure football decision.
This move comes despite the Broncos still theoretically being within their reach of the playoff spot.
It has triggered a heated debate in the NFL community, particularly after Ian Rapoport, a renowned NFL Network analyst, labeled it as a ‘football decision’.
Wilson is currently entitled to a $39 million guaranteed for the year 2024. An additional amount of $37 million becomes fully guaranteed for him in 2025.
Provided he doesn’t suffer a career-ending injury and is capable of passing a physical trial by March.
Sources: The #Broncos are strongly considering having QB Russell Wilson sit for the final two games, preserving financial flexibility for the offseason.
Wilson has $37M in 2025 salary that vests in March of 2024, and if he suffered a serious injury, it would complicate matters. pic.twitter.com/uyI7NtWBBQ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 27, 2023
The $37 million in 2025 @RapSheet speaks of is currently guaranteed for injury only. It becomes fully guaranteed in March. Hence the fear of having him play and suffer a catastrophic injury, causing the #Broncos to be on the hook for that money when they’re not currently. https://t.co/9pNpGWr6Q7
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 27, 2023
Sources: The #Broncos are, in fact, benching Russell Wilson for the final two games, preserving their financial flexibility for the offseason.
Jarrett Stidham starts. pic.twitter.com/8sh7ORek5Q
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 27, 2023
Renowned NFL Network analysts, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, asserted that the Broncos’ move is fundamentally triggered by financial reasons.
This assumption was mirrored in the NFL.com story penned by Kevin Patra, which highlighted finances as the “key reason” behind this surprising move.
Adam Schefter of ESPN and Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report also pointed toward a significant financial component driving this decision.
Schultz was quite clear in his assertion that the Broncos took this decision purely for financial reasons.
Russell Wilson already has $39 million guaranteed for 2024, but he has an additional $37M that would become guaranteed if he can’t pass a physical by early March.
Denver’s move to sit him assures that money won’t trigger. And Denver does this at a time when Wilson is the NFL’s…
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2023
Rapoport, however, decided to modify his course and began portraying the Broncos’ decision as a “football decision”.
Though he still acknowledged the financial component underlying the move.
While there is, of course, the financial component, this is different from Derek Carr last year. Russell Wilson will be the backup. But Jarrett Stidham starts.
This was a football decision. https://t.co/Uqk8qsH46u
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 27, 2023
One of the severe critics of Rapoport’s ‘football decision’ claim was Mitchell Schwartz, a former offensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns.
He emphasized that the financial decision is fundamentally based on a football decision.
If the Broncos were entirely committed to Wilson, chances are, they would continue to play him.
That’s why your original tweet only talked about the finances and how those would be impacted https://t.co/YJK4XHXFQ6
— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) December 27, 2023
But why is it not just both? The financial impacts the football. If you lose 37 million off of future cap (and I should come clean, I have no idea if it does), the decision to move on from a QB you are done with for financial reasons, also happens to be a football move too.
— Scottish (@Whosnext10b) December 27, 2023
However, their decision to bench him indicates a lingering thought of moving on while minimizing their financial risk.
Interestingly, the move to bench a quarterback for financial reasons isn’t something unprecedented.
In recent times, decisions involving star players like Derek Carr, Matt Ryan, and Jimmy Garoppolo have shown a similar pattern.
Despite these precedents, the Broncos decision comes as a de facto surprise considering their theoretical chances of reaching playoffs.
It indeed leaves one to ponder if the Broncos were dissatisfied with the spotlight placed on the financial aspect over the on-field strategy by Rapoport and others.
