Broncos Are Likely Stuck With Struggling QB Russell Wilson Until 2024

The Broncos’ choice to remove coach Nathaniel Hackett and retain general manager George Paton, at least temporarily, indicates that they do intend to make amends for the Russell Wilson fiasco.

They are truly without options.

The cap repercussions of cutting Russell Wilson after the first year of the new contract are unworkable due to the contract Paton handed him in late August. The Broncos would incur a $107 million cap hit by releasing Russell Wilson this season without a post-June 1 designation. The Broncos would be responsible for $22 million in Wilson’s name this year and $85 million in 2024 if the designation was made after June 1.

Broncos Are Likely Stuck With Struggling QB Russell Wilson Until 2024

After the 2023 season, things become a little simpler. The maximum fee for a post-June 1 designation in 2024 would be $35.4 million, with $49.6 million being carried over to 2025.

Here’s one more justification for doing it in early 2024. The $37 million in 2025 pay that Wilson will get if he is on the roster on the fifth day of the league year 2024 becomes completely guaranteed.

For 2022, Wilson has already been given 57 million dollars. Over the following two years, he receives additional 100% guaranteed payments totaling $67 million.

A trade would lessen the cap charge because the outstanding guarantees would be transferred to the new team. But at $67 million over two years and $104 million over three, who in their right mind would take on Russell Wilson?

The ideal result, per spitball-style predictions made during Tuesday’s PFT Live, would be to convince Wilson to retire. You might try offering him a guarantee that no effort would be made to recover a $40 million signing bonus that had already been paid but was not earned. The cap price for 2023 would then drop to $40 million. Wilson’s cost against the cap in 2023 and 2024, if the retirement were processed after June 1, would be $10 million and $30 million, respectively.

Wilson is hard to get to leave. He would probably need to continue playing slowly for at least another year before starting to realise that he isn’t the same player he once was and that he should think about quitting.

In conclusion? Russell Wilson appears to be locked with the Broncos for another season until he actually decides to retire. Moving on becomes easier after 2023, and it might even be necessary to do so in order to avoid another $37 million in full guarantees that vest in March 2024.

FOR MORE NFL UPDATES-

Shannon Sharpe Against Russell Wilson & His Attitude Problem: “Has Broncos Teammates ‘Seething’