With Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos’ playoff hopes are essentially gone. And it sounds like the team is considering a pretty brutal move regarding Russell Wilson as a result.
According to a report from NFL insider Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Denver Broncos are “strongly considering” benching Russell Wilson for the final two games of the season to protect him from injury and preserve the team’s “financial flexibility.”
“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,” Rapoport said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
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
Obviously, this is pretty terrible news for Wilson that the team is considering not only shutting him down this season but also moving on from him during the offseason, and the NFL world had a lot to say about it on social media.
This is not a drill. The Russ in Denver experience will ultimately go down as one of the worst trades in NFL history but even more so one of the worst sports contracts we’ve ever seen. Broncos Country should be bracing themselves for the largest dead cap hit in NFL history. https://t.co/eZlxCsdBd1
— Zach Bye (@byesline) 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
oh he gone gone. and this is before they are even eliminated from playoff contention https://t.co/FLRmQ0DajX
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) December 27, 2023
Going to go down as one of the worst trades in NFL history. What a disaster. https://t.co/OPyeYDk3sZ
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) December 27, 2023
The Dodgers have an opportunity to do the funniest thing https://t.co/YA1RvUhfCu
— Michael Duncan (@MichaelDuncan) December 27, 2023
So now that this is out there and it appears likely the #Broncos are moving on from Russell Wilson…would it be better to lose the last two games if the team is targeting a QB in #NFLDraft? https://t.co/KeMoaNH0Pp
— Ryan Edwards (@redwardsradio) December 27, 2023
We’ll have to see what the team decides to do with Wilson, but it’s pretty clear to most fans that he has not performed the way they would have liked him to this season.
