After news broke Wednesday that the Denver Broncos have benched quarterback Russell Wilson, additional reporting has surfaced that the team threatened to bench him months earlier if he did not change his contract.
Wilson expects to be released by the Broncos in March, and for the last two months, he “has been starting knowing the organization was most likely going to move on him from after this season,” according to a report from The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini.
Denver’s management reached out to Wilson’s representatives in late October and told them the QB would be benched if he did not modify his contract, according to Russini. If Wilson suffered a serious injury this fall, his $37 million salary for the 2025 season would become guaranteed. The Broncos wanted to revise that part of the QB’s contract.
The two sides weren’t able to reach an agreement over the contract and Wilson was officially benched on Wednesday.
It was explained, the Broncos never told Wilson if or when they would bench him this season, he just played until he was told this morning he was no longer starting.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) December 28, 2023
Wilson, 35, now expects to be released in the spring before his 2025 salary becomes guaranteed on March 17. Denver, meanwhile, plans to start Jarrett Stidham for the final two games of the 2023 season.
Wilson has likely played his last down for the Broncos, and he knows it.
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