The Denver Broncos suffered a devastating defeat in Week 16, losing to the New England Patriots at home. While it didn’t mathematically eliminate them from the postseason, it certainly had a negative impact on their chances of making the postseason.
At 7-8, the Broncos would need a lot of help were they to advance to the playoffs. Getting their own team on track in some regards would help and they made a change hoping to do that as Denver benched starting quarterback Russell Wilson.
It was a move that came out of nowhere as Wilson has been playing relatively well this season. When speaking to the media about the move, head coach Sean Payton was adamant that it was made to help get the offense going.
NFL News & Rumors: Sean Payton, Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos Updates
“We’re desperately trying to win and sure in our game today, there are economics and all those other things, but the number one push behind this and it’s a decision I’m making is to get a spark offensively,” Payton said.
However, the main reason for benching Wilson was to ensure that more money wasn’t guaranteed on his contract. If he were to get injured and not be able to pass a physical in March, the Broncos would have owed him $37 million more.
To make sure that didn’t happen, they are opting to bench him and go with backup Jarrett Stidham. Payton met with his veteran on Wednesday moving to let him know of the change being made. However, this is something that the organization has been cooking up for weeks.
On X, formerly Twitter, Wilson was liking posts from Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report detailing that the Broncos had been trying to bench him since October. The team wanted him to move his guarantees in 2024 to 2025, something Wilson did not want to do, and they responded with threats to bench him.
NFL News & Rumors: Sean Payton, Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos Updates
Late on Wednesday, Wilson made his own post on X. “God’s got me. Looking forward to what’s next,” he wrote.
All signs are now pointing toward Wilson being released in the offseason, giving him the opportunity to choose his next destination. He should have plenty of suitors as he showed this season he still has something left in the tank to offer.
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