Russell Wilson has now been benched, and is likely done as a member of the Denver Broncos. His era spanned 30 games and produced 11 wins over the course of two seasons. Arguably, the most valuable aspect of giving Sean Payton an exorbitant amount of money to coach the Broncos in 2023 was that Payton had the cachet to tell ownership what was abundantly clear to everyone in Denver during Wilson’s first season there: The quarterback is not good enough anymore, and is certainly not worth rolling 30-plus million dollar guarantees each season.
On Sunday night against the New England Patriots, Wilson looked like the lead singer of a Russell Wilson cover band, attempting, but ultimately failing, to reach the physical range of the person he was there to imitate. In our Week 16 power rankings, I wrote about how his opening series against New England was the perfect entry into the end of the Wilson era. That turned out to be more prescient than I expected, especially since Denver is still tangentially alive in the playoff race, and it was surprising to see them bench Wilson now.
Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports
