The Denver Broncos’ benching and certain upcoming release of Russell Wilson proves a couple of the themes discussed so often in this space.
The business of the NFL is a cold and heartless one, even for players who have been elite faces of their franchises. Just in the past couple of years, superstars inextricably linked to their teams for long tenures—Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, to name a few—had those tenures end with some level of enmity. Now Wilson, less than two years since being traded away from the Seattle Seahawks to the Broncos, will join the list for the second time.
The Broncos went all in on Wilson—on both trade compensation and contract compensation—before now being all out. This illustrates another theme of this space: NFL contracts, even for elite quarterbacks, are not what they appear to be. More on that below.
