Wilson’s time in Denver will be remembered for good and bad
Dec 30, 2023, 10:34 AM | Updated: 8:40 pm
On Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, Adam Schefter broke the news that Broncos head coach Sean Payton had decided to bench Russell Wilson and would start Jarrett Stidham for the remainder of the season.
Change in Denver: Broncos’ HC Sean Payton has informed his team that Jarrett Stidham will start Sunday vs. the Chargers, with Russell Wilson as the backup, per sources.
With a 1-3 record in the last four games, Denver is looking to spark its offense and see what it has in… pic.twitter.com/P6X2DO0jT7
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2023
The Wilson era in Denver was coming to an end. Many fans were disappointed by this decision.
It was a shock to some of Broncos country, considering this has been the best season we’ve seen since 2015 and playoffs hopes weren’t dead yet. At the same time, others have wanted him gone since he got here.
Wilson had been playing pretty good football throughout the season and had better stats than some of the league’s top quarterbacks. While he wasn’t playing at an elite level, he won games and brought the Broncos to a place to be fighting for playoffs for the first time since the Peyton Manning era.
It was later reported that Wilson was being benched for purely financial reasons. After beating the Chiefs back in October, he had been asked to renegotiate/push back the injury clause in his contract. If he didn’t, the team threatened to bench him for the remainder of the season.
Sources to @BleacherReport: The #Broncos threatened to bench Russell Wilson weeks ago if he didn’t remove his injury guarantees.
Russell Wilson’s benching by the Broncos today is solely financially related and has been in the works for weeks, per multiple sources with direct… pic.twitter.com/pmq172Cm1H
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 27, 2023
While he didn’t get benched immediately, the Broncos organization and Payton decided to go ahead and bench him for the remainder of the season after losing to the Patriots and practically ending their playoff chances. Payton also claimed that this move was football-related and about winning more games.
The NFL is a cutthroat league, and this decision is a business decision at the end of the day. He’s not meeting expectations for being a top-paid quarterback in the league.
Wilson wasn’t playing phenomenally, but he definitely was not the sole reason this team had been struggling all season. According to Payton, he’s the fall guy because “I can’t replace the entire offensive line. I can’t bring in five new receivers”.
Sean Payton said the entire offense wasn’t good enough, not just Russell Wilson.
Here’s why Russ was the fall guy 👇 pic.twitter.com/Lm88GtUyaB
— DNVR Broncos (@DNVR_Broncos) December 27, 2023
It’s a bummer to see Wilson getting benched at this point in the season. It just felt like the Broncos were so close to becoming something great. Regardless of all the hate for Wilson’s play throughout the year, he was improving every week, and the team was gaining more and more confidence throughout the season.
To truly see Wilson’s full potential, he needed at least two years in the Payton system before making any hard decisions. Wilson could have gotten more comfortable over time and built a better connection with his offensive line and receivers.
Wilson’s future in Denver is up in the air; he expressed to the media that he still wants to be in Denver, he wants to win here, and that hasn’t changed. He’s ready to take on the challenge of leading the team to a Super Bowl. Ultimately, he said he’s also prepared to play elsewhere if things don’t work out.
Russell Wilson: “I want to be” with the Broncos going forward. “But I don’t know. And I didn’t know several weeks ago what it would look like, either. But I came here for a reason, and that’s to win multiple championships. That’s still my focus to this day. I’m under contract.” pic.twitter.com/rDIB1YP9rf
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 29, 2023
While Wilson’s time in Denver was not as successful as everyone hoped, he still gave us the best season we’ve seen in years. He beat the Chiefs for the first time since 2015, went on a five-game winning streak against some of the toughest teams in the league, beat a division rival on the road for the first time since 2019, and put the team in place to be fighting for a playoff spot for the first time in years.
It wasn’t pretty, but it sure was an exciting season to be a Broncos fan.
