ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Maybe Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos aren’t headed for a costly divorce, after all.
The possibility of working things out with their benched $242.6 million quarterback was the main message that emerged from the Broncos’ season-ending news conference Wednesday.
Coach Sean Payton said no decision has been made at QB but everyone will have clarity soon: “I spent a half hour with Russ yesterday and I told him I don’t think it’s going to be a long, drawn-out process. But it hasn’t been decided relative to what our plans are and that as soon as we know something that certainly he would be the first to know.”
Payton said there was indeed a scenario in which Wilson returns as his starting quarterback next season despite being benched after throwing for 28 touchdowns through 15 games.
“Yeah, otherwise it would have been like, ‘Hey, good-bye,’” Payton said. “So, we’ll look at all the scenarios and try to do what’s best for the Denver Broncos.”
General manager George Paton said the “door is open” to a reconciliation that would keep Wilson in Denver, adding, “I’ve talked to Russ. He’s open to returning.”
Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, didn’t immediately return messages from The Associated Press afterward.
The Broncos are on the hook for Wilson’s $39 million salary in 2024 and they’d also have $85 million in dead cap charges over the next two years if they let him go.
“This would be extreme,” Paton said.
It would also be an NFL record, more than doubling the $40-plus million the Atlanta Falcons incurred in dead cap charges following QB Matt Ryan’s departure.
But CEO Greg Penner, who is the league’s richest owner, said the substantial financial fallout from a split with Wilson wouldn’t be the deciding factor in the team’s quarterback decision.
“Obviously, the financial part of it is a significant component in terms of how this works out in the future, but that’s not what will drive this decision,” Penner said. “The decision will be driven on what’s in the best interests of this football team winning games.”
The Broncos (8-9) posted a losing record for a seventh straight season and extended their playoff drought to eight years in Payton’s first year as coach. He benched Wilson for the final two games and Jarrett Stidham went 1-1 with a pair of middling performances in his place.
After Wilson was benched, he said in an interview at his locker on Dec. 29 that the team approached him during the bye week following Denver’s biggest win in years, a 24-9 dispatch of the Chiefs in Week 8 that snapped a 16-game losing skid to Kansas City, and threatened to bench him if he didn’t adjust his $37 million injury guarantee in 2024.
He declined to change anything in the contract and remained the starter until he was benched following a loss to the Patriots on Christmas Eve in what the Broncos insist was a football move, not a financial one.
The Broncos didn’t respond publicly to Wilson’s comments about being threatened with his starting job until Wednesday’s news conference.
The owner, GM and head coach all declined to characterize Paton’s interaction with Wilson’s agent as a threat to bench the quarterback if he didn’t adjust his contract.
“During the bye week I did reach out to Russ’s agent in a good faith and a creative attempt to adjust his contract,” Paton said. “We couldn’t get a deal done and we moved on with our season. It didn’t come up again. Fast forward, Week 17 Sean makes a change in the quarterback position. This was a football decision made by Sean in what he thought was in the best interest of the team. This was completely independent of any conversations I had with the agent.”
The head coach has said all along he wasn’t privy to the talks between management and Wilson’s agent.
Penner indicated he’ll let Payton and Paton figure out who will be under center for Denver in 2024, whether that’s Wilson, Stidham, a 2024 draft pick or another team’s castoff.
“As CEO, I definitely want to be briefed to know what’s going on. That being said, I entrust people to do their jobs and I don’t coach the football team, I don’t call the agents and have negotiations on player contracts,” Penner said. “Again, I believe the approach to Russell’s agent was done in a constructive way. And it just didn’t lead to an agreement.”
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