Russell Wilson is under contract with the Denver Broncos through 2028. But he’s not expected to be playing for them in 2024.
The Broncos benched Wilson prior to their Week 17 showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers. This was, professionally, a matter of performance. Head coach Sean Payton chalked the move up to maximizing his team’s slim playoff chances.
But Denver’s replacement is journeyman backup Jarrett Stidham, who has decidedly been lesser than Wilson in his NFL career. Sitting Wilson helps ensure he won’t get hurt ahead of the start of the 2024 league year — a March date in which his $37 million 2025 salary would be guaranteed if he’s on the Broncos’ roster.
Thus, it’s been made clear to the world that Denver’s done with the quarterback for whom it traded three players, two first round picks and two second round picks less than two years ago. Wilson was reportedly told months ago he’d be released next spring, accelerating $85 million in dead salary cap space onto the Broncos’ tab in 2024 and 2025 (assuming he’s designated a post-June 1 release) just to be rid of a Super Bowl-winning quarterback. That’s going to leave a vacuum for a team that will be, once again, in search of someone to lead it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
There are a few avenues Denver can go down in order to replace Wilson. None of them are likely to produce someone better, at least in 2024. But that wasn’t the intention of cutting the former perennial Pro Bowler; 2024 was always going to be a gap year until 2025 thanks to the massive guarantees in Wilson’s contract and how they’ll dictate the team’s future even when he’s not there.
So here’s how Sean Payton can line up his chess pieces with his eye on the future going forward.