The Denver Broncos are searching for a new starting quarterback in 2024 as Sean Payton made it abundantly clear he’s ready to part ways with Russell Wilson.
Payton originally came in hoping to fix Wilson and believed the former Seahawks QB would thrive in his offensive system. But the 2023 season didn’t go as well as hoped. The Broncos started the season 1-5 after dropping some winnable games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders while giving up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins.
While it appeared as if the defense was the main issue, the offense also looked shaky, but Wilson looked improved, with 12 touchdowns and only four interceptions over that span.
Despite leading the Broncos to winning six out of the seven games following the team’s rough start to the year, it became clear Sean Payton was ready to move on from the veteran QB.
According to Diana Russini of the Athletic, Russell Wilson is expecting to be cut by the Denver Broncos in March, per league sources. The veteran quarterback was informed in late December of the team’s decision to bench him for the final two games of the regular season.
For almost two months, Wilson has known the organization was most likely going to move on from him after this season. According to a person close to Wilson, the Broncos reached out to Wilson’s representatives after their win against the Chiefs on Oct. 29 and explained that Wilson would lose the starting job and be made inactive for the rest of the season if he did not defer the injury guarantee trigger date that he has for 2025.
Wilson has $37 million in injury guarantees for 2025 that will become guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2024 league year in March. Lawyers, including some with the NFLPA, were involved, and no changes were made to the contract.
The Broncos never told Wilson if or when they would bench him this season
