One prominent NFL insider at ESPN believes that it’s time for the Denver Broncos to cut ties with quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason.
After a nightmare of a first year in Denver, Wilson was expected to bounce back under the tutelage of new head coach Sean Payton. But things simply haven’t gone as planned for the two future Hall of Famers together, and the Broncos are sitting at an ugly 1-5 entering their Week 7 showdown with the Green Bay Packers.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano were asked how worried Denver fans should be about Wilson’s $245 million deal, on a scale of 1-10. Graziano gave the highest answer available and explained why the Broncos should cut ties with the nine-time Pro Bowler:
“10, and I wish I could go higher. I think the Broncos have to bite the bullet and cut him before the 2025 guarantees kick in next March. Designate him a post-June 1 cut, take the $35.4 million dead money hit in 2024, another $49 million or so in 2025 and draft a QB to rebuild around.
This is a bigger project than I think coach Sean Payton expected, and a reset is probably the best way to go. If you’re going to have a quarterback on a rookie deal for the next couple of seasons, you can afford to absorb those dead money hits.”
Denver acquired Wilson in a blockbuster deal with the Seattle Seahawks during the 2022 offseason.
The move was supposed to end the Broncos’ six-year search for a franchise quarterback. But while Geno Smith has enjoyed a career turnaround in Seattle, Wilson and the Broncos have sunk to irrelevance.
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As a Bronco, Wilson holds an awful 5-16-0 record with 4,829 passing yards and 28 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. He didn’t have his first losing season with Seattle until 2021, yet the 34-year-old is already about to double that number in just two years with the Broncos.
If Wilson can’t turn things around soon, the Broncos will truly have no choice but to follow Graziano’s advice this offseason by restarting at quarterback.
