The Denver Broncos decided on Wednesday to bench veteran quarterback Russell Wilson for the remainder of the season. But new reports suggest that this decision has been a long time coming.
The decision was reportedly made purely for financial reasons. Wilson would be owed an additional $37 million that would be guaranteed if he weren’t able to pass a physical by March.
Making the decision to sit him for the rest of the season obviously ensures that he is healthy at that point and will not receive that additional fully guaranteed money.
Well, new reports suggest that the Broncos had planned to bench Wilson for this reason for quite some time now. In fact, they even tried to convince him to adjust his current contract entirely.
According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, the Broncos approached Wilson two days after their win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8. In a meeting, they threatened him by saying that they would make him inactive for the rest of the season if he did not adjust the injury guarantee trigger date in his contract to the 2025 season.
Sources to @BleacherReport: The #Broncos threatened to bench Russell Wilson weeks ago if he didn’t remove his injury guarantees.
Russell Wilson’s benching by the Broncos today is solely financially related and has been in the works for weeks, per multiple sources with direct… pic.twitter.com/pmq172Cm1H
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 27, 2023
Schultz added that Wilson was reportedly “shocked” by this demand from the Broncos, especially since the Broncos had won in upset fashion over the reigning Super Bowl champions just two days prior.
It’s a pretty bold move for the organization to outright threaten Wilson’s starting job over this just halfway through the season. But fans believe it makes sense considering they ultimately followed through with this plan on Wednesday.
Good for Wilson. Why should he restructure his deal especially when he was starting to play better. https://t.co/fC9Q0e2K6E
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) December 27, 2023
Denver really punishing this man for staying healthy and winning enough to be in the playoff hunt… just so they can not pay him? https://t.co/7esFke38PT
— C.J. Lawrence (@CJLawrenceEsq) December 27, 2023
I don’t think I can think of a weirder player/team relationship than this. https://t.co/7W5N1O0DE4
— Eric (@EWRNYC1) December 27, 2023
Broncos corny for this, shouldn’t have agreed to the terms if you didn’t plan to actually honor it. https://t.co/4RSbdFK4FO
— DJ (@kingdj_5297) December 27, 2023
Absolutely wild https://t.co/jjuZ1cnxmA
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) December 27, 2023
It’s pretty clear that this relationship between Wilson and the Broncos organization is heading towards a complete break at some point.
For them to approach a former Super Bowl champion quarterback in Wilson and basically demand for him to change a contract they agreed to in the first place is pretty absurd when you think about it.
There will surely be more to emerge from this situation moving forward, but it seems like it is all but a formality at this point that Wilson will be wearing a different jersey next season.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.