The Denver Broncos head coach, Sean Payton, recently revealed that they are benching their veteran quarterback, Russell Wilson. He won’t be playing the last two games of the season and in his place, Jarrett Stidham, a free-agent pickup, will start.
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
Change in Denver: Broncos’ HC Sean Payton has informed his team that Jarrett Stidham will start Sunday vs. the Chargers, with Russell Wilson as the backup, per sources.
With a 1-3 record in the last four games, Denver is looking to spark its offense and see what it has in… pic.twitter.com/P6X2DO0jT7
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2023
According to Pro Football Talk, the Broncos quarterback will be released by the team before an additional $37 million in future salary becomes completely guaranteed due to injury.
As per PFT’s Mike Florio, this must happen “between the first day of the waiver period (right after the Super Bowl) and the fifth day of the league year, which begins on March 13.”
Inside the cap charges the Broncos will take for cutting Russell Wilson (which are less than the cap charges they'd take over the next two years by keeping him). https://t.co/asdQgmm5qi
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) December 28, 2023
The transaction will bring cap charges of $89 million coming from finances previously spent and $39 million fully guaranteed in 2024. The Broncos have two options; they can declare Wilson after June release or they can absorb the full cost in 2024.
His cap for next year is $35.4 million, which is under his current deal with the Broncos and in 2025 it is $55.4 million. Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Dereck Carr also faced a similar situation last year.
