12/21/24
December 28, 2023
Did the Broncos Just Give Up on Russell Wilson?: The Denver Broncos are benching Russell Wilson for the final two weeks of the season, a move that prevents his $37 million contract next season from being fully guaranteed in case of injury. It now becomes guaranteed if he's still on the team March 18, 2024. Wilson has 3,070 passing yards and 26 touchdowns with eight interceptions. His passer rating is above that of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. But Denver might be done with him.
His passer rating is above that of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
A damning indictment of passer rating.
I've watched every second of every Bronco game, unfortunately, and while Russ can still make all of the throws, his decision making is like a D-, he can not read coverages, and he often gets stuck holding the ball when it should be out. I often wondered how he got this far as a NFL QB. You could tell by the play calls that Payton didn't trust Russ at all and you could tell by his sideline demeanor that he didn't like Russ at all.
That said, I'm not a big fan of just cutting bait when the team still has a shot at the playoffs. Just seems wrong
posted by tron7 at 04:48 PM on December 29, 2023
Very exciting that Russ is gonna get a whole new market to be awkward and weird in.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 05:39 PM on January 01, 2024
It's the guaranteed money against the dead cap money. Both are huge.
I'd like to know when the Walton ownership group first began negotiating to buy the team and where the Broncos prior owners were with the acquisition of Wilson at that time.
The team traded for Wilson in March 2022. The P&S agreement with Walton et al. wasn't announced till June.
If the Walton group was exploring the purchase of the Broncos while they were still working on a trade for Wilson, then new ownership must have tacitly approved of the trade and Wilson's extension. And the prior hiring of head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
I don't care how much money the Walton group has. They paid a premium for a franchise that had just made two questionable decisions (that have since proved disastrous) and are now paying Payton 18 million a year to maybe not be an elite head coach.
The owners may have to spend their way out of the hole they're in to have a competitive team again anytime soon. As a casual observer, I hate roster buying. George Steinbrenner saw to that many years ago.
Perhaps a seasoned, astute new owner buying in just a few weeks earlier would have nixed the Wilson trade as a contingency of purchase. At least the Walton group didn't waste any time ditching Hackett.