Russell Wilson explains Broncos breakup in explosive interview

Highlights

• Russell Wilson revealed he was threatened with benching by the Denver Broncos over the injury guarantee in his contract in a new interview.
• Wilson will be released in the coming weeks as he looks for a contender with whom he can finish out his career.
• The Broncos are facing negative PR and a massive dead-cap hit with Wilson’s looming release.

The Mile High City has reached a new low.

In a new interview with former NFL receiver Brandon Marshall on his I Am Athlete show, quarterback Russell Wilson described the breakdown in his relationship with the Denver Broncos organization. In his interview, Wilson explains how the Broncos tried to manipulate his contract:

They [the Broncos] want to push back my injury guarantee and remove it for the rest of the year, so that way, if I get injured, then they don’t have to pay it… I didn’t want to set a precedent for players to remove their injury guarantees. There was no way I was going to do that.

The Broncos were 3-5 when they attempted to extort Willson, and they would go on to finish 5-4 while Wilson sat out the final two contests in Week 17 and Week 18.

It’s certainly a bad look for the organization as a whole, which is trying to improve its standing with fans after the Walton-Penner group bought the team for a then-record $4.65 billion in 2022. Wilson’s interview also doesn’t reflect too kindly on Sean Payton, who’s been in hot water since joining the Broncos due to his own inflammatory remarks, including his rambunctious analysis of Nathaniel Hackett’s sole year as head coach of the franchise.

No matter what happens this offseason, the Broncos will need a lot of positive PR to resuscitate their public perception.

Wilson was threatened with benching over injury guarantee

Former Seahawks’ legend signed a record 5-year deal with Denver in 2022

In March 2022, Denver gave up a haul for Wilson that included five draft picks, including two first-rounders, and four players. The Seattle Seahawks have drafted well, to be sure (tackle Charles Cross and cornerback Devon Witherspoon are already among the best at their respective positions), but the trade will undoubtedly go down as one of the most lopsided in NFL history.

The Broncos naturally doubled down on their move for the franchise quarterback, handing Wilson the NFL’s biggest contract at the time: five years, $242.5 million, including $161 million guaranteed. It was a big gamble on a quarterback coming off a down season (relative to his own high standards) who was about to begin his age-34 campaign.

After a difficult first year in Denver, Wilson returned to form in 2023, posting his highest completion rate and touchdown total since his Pro Bowl campaign in 2020. On the field, the marriage between Wilson and Payton appeared to be paying dividends, even if the team was faltering on the whole.

Behind the scenes, however, the relationship between the quarterback and the organization was evidently derisive. Wilson explained the situation heading into Denver’s Week 10 matchup with the Buffalo Bills, which they ended up winning in an upset, 24-22:

I didn’t want [to get my agent involved] but they kept saying [they would bench me] all throughout the week. So my agent talked to the NFLPA, the NFLPA called me, then they talked to the NFL, the NFL was like ‘this is illegal, they can’t do this’.

So I was sitting here [on Saturday], I didn’t know if I was gonna play the following week, we had MNF against the Buffalo Bills the following week… And on that Monday that’s when I meet with Sean, and Sean’s like ‘hey, pretend like nothing happened, you’re gonna play this week against Buffalo, we got a big game against Buffalo, we gotta go win on MNF.’ And I’m like (laughs) ‘alright’.

Wilson would go on to play seven more games for the team, though he was benched in the final two weeks of the season despite the team still being alive in the playoff race.

The rest of the interview proved to be revealing as well, as Wilson also admitted that wide receiver Courtland Sutton was the only player on the roster who knew the truth (about his contract dispute) during the season. Likewise, Wilson and Payton’s relationship deteriorated as the coach apparently tried to bait Wilson into an outburst, which could have voided part of his contract.

Wilson is all but certain to be released this offseason, and he’ll be looking for a new home with a playoff contender as he nears the twilight of his career. Meanwhile, the Broncos will have to attempt a rebuild while being saddled with the biggest dead-cap hit in NFL history ($85 million).

Source: I Am Athlete

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference and all salary info courtesy of Spotrac unless stated otherwise.