Has Russell Wilson played his final down as a Denver Bronco?
Less than two years after going all-in to acquire the Super Bowl champion quarterback, the Broncos benched Wilson in favor of backup Jarrett Stidham on Wednesday.
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The stunning quarterback change came just days after Denver suffered its third loss in four games, falling to the lowly New England Patriots at home on Christmas Eve. The 7-8 Broncos have just an 8% chance of making the playoffs with two weeks left in the regular season, per NFL.com.
So why is Denver switching things up now?
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"I understand all the speculation and everything that surrounds a move like that, and I can tell you we're desperately trying to win," head coach Sean Payton told reporters Wednesday. "Sure, in our game today there are economics and all those things, but the number one push behind this -- and it's a decision I'm making -- is to get a spark offensively.
"Obviously it's difficult and all of us feel like, 'Man, we didn't do enough.' But one of the things we saw when we signed Stidham in the offseason was -- not only film from preseason games but regular season games -- he's a guy that I'm anxious to see play. If I didn't feel like he gave us a chance to win, we wouldn't be making that move."
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Along with trying to spark the offense, there could be financial factors at play as well.
Wilson, 35, is guaranteed $39 million next season and he will be owed an additional $37 million in injury guarantees for 2025 if he can't pass a physical in early March of 2024.
But Payton maintained Wilson's contract wasn't the main reason behind the move.
"I get that, but then why not (bench him) last week or two weeks ago or three weeks ago or four weeks ago? I understand the question and I understand the economics here," Payton said. "But if I've got the decision and I said to you I'm only interested in winning...we're trying to win every game we're playing and that's the case this weekend."
The Athletic's Dianna Russini, however, reported that Wilson expects to be cut by the Broncos in March.
The Wilson era in Denver has been a major disappointment from Day 1. The franchise paid a substantial price, including two first-rounders and two second-rounders, to acquire Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks in March 2022. Denver then gave Wilson a five-year, $245 million extension before he took his first snap in a Broncos uniform.
But the Broncos went just 4-11 with Wilson under center, and 5-12 overall, in 2022 as he had the worst season of his career. Denver was the NFL's lowest-scoring team and first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired after 15 games.
The Broncos acquired Payton's rights in the offseason, sending a first-rounder and second-rounder to the New Orleans Saints, and hired the Super Bowl champion as head coach, tasking him with getting the nine-time Pro Bowl QB back on track.
The start of this season looked like the 2022 campaign, though, with Denver dropping five of its first six games. The Broncos then reeled off five straight wins to get above .500, but they weren't able to maintain that momentum.
While Wilson's numbers are improved compared to his brutal 2022 campaign, Denver's offensive struggles have persisted. The Broncos rank 16th in scoring, 20th on third down, 22nd in the red zone, 25th in passing and 31st in goal-to-go situations, per ESPN.
"I get that and yet, I can't replace the entire offensive line, I can't bring in five new receivers and if it continues over a period of time then there will be another guy here talking to you as well," Payton responded to a reporter saying it looked like Wilson was taking the brunt of the blame for the offensive struggles. "These are difficult decisions and obviously there's more attention when it's the quarterback who's under contract but different than maybe earlier decisions we've made with maybe last year's prior starters.
"I can just assure you one thing, I'm just interested in winning and it doesn't matter how. When you do this for this long a period of time, that's all you're interested in because there's nothing like it and then the other side of it, there's nothing like that, either."
Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round pick, joined the Broncos on a two-year, $10 million deal in free agency. He actually got the first two starts of his career under similar circumstances last season.
The Las Vegas Raiders benched Derek Carr, who had $40.4 million in injury guarantees, in favor of Stidham with two games remaining. Las Vegas then cut Carr in the offseason.
Should the Broncos decide to do the same with Wilson, they would be on the hook for a whopping $85 million in dead cap money.
