The Denver Broncos’ decision to bench Russell Wilson has been a long time coming, and the issue has reportedly been festering for two months.
The Broncos approached Wilson on Oct. 31 and demanded that he defer the injury trigger guarantee date in his contract for 2025, according to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report. The Broncos threatened to make Wilson inactive for the remainder of the season if he did not agree to adjust his contract.
Wilson was “shocked” by the ultimatum, especially since it came two days after he threw three touchdown passes in an upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The quarterback refused to adjust his contract, which led to negotiations involving Wilson, the team, and the NFLPA that ultimately ended with no changes to his deal.
Troy Renck of Denver 7 confirmed the report, adding that the Broncos essentially wanted to force Wilson to compete for the starting quarterback job in 2024 without owing him a massive guarantee.
Confirmed Jordan's report. #Broncos wanted to move back injury guarantee date of fifth date of league year this offseason. They wanted to push it back with it feeling like intention was to have Wilson compete for job in training camp in 2024 without guaranteeing him the 2025… https://t.co/QI3T1iuO3V
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) December 27, 2023
Wilson’s Broncos contract contains a $37 million guarantee for 2024 that would kick in if he were to suffer an injury that would cause him to fail a physical come March. The contract will also become guaranteed just after the start of the new league year in 2024. The Broncos apparently wanted to get that guarantee out of his contract, which would have given the team more flexibility with him going forward.
Ultimately, the Broncos benched Wilson for the rest of the season on Wednesday. Though coach Sean Payton is adamant that the change is being made for on-field reasons, few will believe that. Wilson’s time with Denver appears to be running out — largely because of a contract guarantee the team agreed to when signing him long-term prior to the 2022 campaign.
