ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Russell Wilson’s time in Denver might be over.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday that the Broncos will bench Wilson, 35, for their final two games of the year. Jarrett Stidham, 27, will take over as the Broncos’ starter. Denver needs two wins and plenty of help from around the league to have a chance at the playoffs.
The exact reason for the benching is unclear. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that the Broncos were trying to mitigate the risk of injury guarantees. The Broncos can release Wilson this offseason and take an $85 million dead cap hit, as long as they make the move by early March.
But if Wilson is injured when that deadline arrives, a $37 million injury guarantee would be added to the bill, raising it to $122 million.
Mike Klis of 9News reported that the move was a football decision, though. If that’s the case, the Broncos simply believe that Stidham gives them a better chance to win this week.
For Stidham, the final two weeks of this season will be a sequel to last year.
The Raiders traded a sixth-round pick to the Patriots for a seventh-round pick and Stidham, who was entering the final year of his rookie contract. The former fourth-round pick never started a game for New England, while backing up Tom Brady, then Cam Newton, then Mac Jones.
In Las Vegas, Stidham backed up Derek Carr. But the Raiders faced a similar situation to the what the Broncos are going through now; they wanted to move on from Carr, but injury guarantees could disrupt their plan.
Stidham started the last two games of the season, both at home. In the first start of his career, Stidham completed 23 of 34 passes for 365 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Unfortunately, the second interception came in overtime setting up a game-wining field goal that ended a 37-34 loss.
In his second game, Stidham didn’t fare as well. He completed 22 of 36 passes for 219 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked six times. The Chiefs won 31-13.
The Broncos signed Stidham to a two-year, $10 million contract a couple of months later.
Unlike last season, when the Raiders sent Derek Carr home for the final two weeks of the season, the Broncos will hold onto Wilson and dress him as the backup quarterback, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Wilson’s career in Denver might not be over, but it appears to be close. If the Broncos keep him next season, they’ll have to guarantee his 2025 salary of $37 million. Either they’ll move on, or they’ll keep him for two more seasons, at which point Wilson will be 37.
If the Broncos move on, his dead cap hit will likely split between the next two seasons; $35.4 million in 2024 and $49.6 million in 2025. His $85 million in total dead money will be a new NFL record, more than doubling the $40 million hit the Falcons took when they moved on from Matt Ryan.
If the Broncos move on, Wilson will end up with $124 million from the Broncos in exchange for two seasons of service.
Wilson currently ranks 19th in the NFL with eight interceptions, 18th with 3,134 passing yards, 10th with a 66.4% completion percentage, 8th with 26 touchdown passes, and 7th with a 98 passer rating. He’s been sacked the fourth most. His 341 rushing yards rank 8th among quarterbacks.
