Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton told reporters Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine at the Indiana Convention Center that they organization will decide on the future of their union with quarterback Russell Wilson ‘within the next two weeks.’
Payton shared that the plans to meet with the Broncos ownership group March 5 and 6 to discuss the decision: “I expect we’re going to know fairly quickly. I said it at the Super Bowl, but more specifically, somewhere of the neighborhood [of] next week.” Payton also hinted that the Broncos’ are focused on finding their next quarterback: “I saw this humorous meme the other day where there was a Broncos fan with a shirt on. There were like eight quarterbacks names that were crossed through. … Our job is to make sure the next one doesn’t have a line through it.”
The 35-year-old Wilson signed a five-year, $242.5 million contract with the Broncos in 2022, which included $124 million at signing. Wilson’s $39 million salary for 2024 is full guaranteed, and he is guaranteed another $37 million if he doesn’t pass a physical in March.
Wilson, who was benched for the final two games of the season, completed 66.4% of his throws for 3,070 yards, 26 scores and eight interceptions through 15 starts last season. Having Wilson sit out the final two weeks of the season potentially avoided a major injury for the quarterback, which could have triggered his injury guarantee. At the time of Wilson’s benching, Payton told reporters that the move was made to give the Broncos offense a “spark.” Wilson said that the Broncos told him he would be benched if he didn’t alter the injury guarantee in his contract.
If the Broncos release Wilson, they will take on $85 million in dead money against the salary cap over the next two years. When asked about the matter of Wilson’s contract, Broncos general manager George Paton said Tuesday in Indianapolis that the Broncos have “moved forward,” and when asked about trade interest in Wilson, he told reporters he hasn’t heard anything from other teams. Said Paton: “I appreciate that, but we’ve moved forward, everything we did was aboveboard. I appreciate Russ, but we’ve moved forward. We have a lot of work to do, we’re here at the combine, with free agency around the corner, we’re focused on bettering our football team.”
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