NFL Exec on Wilson Benching: 'Sean Messed With the Wrong Guy'

This story is far from finished.

The divorce between the Denver Broncos and former starting quarterback Russell Wilson is growing more contentious.

Speaking anonymously, an NFL executive stated to The Athletic's Mike Sando that Broncos head coach Sean Payton "messed with the wrong guy" following the controversial decision to bench Wilson, who went public with the team's alleged threat to rework his contract — or else.

"Fifteen years ago, the quarterback would sit quiet and try to get on another team," the exec said. "When you mistreat a guy like Wilson, that ain't going to happen. I think Sean messed with the wrong guy because (Wilson) told the story."

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Denver's brass quietly approached Wilson in late October requesting that he remove (or defer) the $37 million in 2025 injury guarantees from his deal, set to become guaranteed in March. The club supposedly threatened to make him inactive for the remainder of the season if the request wasn't honored, a detail confirmed by the nine-time Pro Bowler.

“We beat the Chiefs. They came up to me during the bye week and began the bye week—Monday or Tuesday—and they told me that if I didn’t change my contract, my injury guarantee, that I’d be benched for the rest of the year," Wilson told reporters last week. "And, I don’t know, I think we had nine games left or so. I was definitely disappointed about it. It was a process through the whole week, the whole bye week. We just came off beating the Chiefs. Played a pretty good game against the Chiefs. We just came off of that, so I was excited, obviously, for us to fight for the playoffs and get on a hot streak. And the NFLPA and NFL got involved or whatever, I think, at some point."

The Broncos deny any wrongdoing — Payton insisted the benching was related to performance, not financials — though the NFL Players Association indeed got involved, warning Denver of potential legal ramifications related to the loss of Wilson's job under the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“It has come to our attention that the Denver Broncos recently informed Mr. Wilson and his Certified Contract Advisor that if Mr. Wilson would not renegotiate his Player Contract to relinquish certain salary guarantees, the Broncos would remove him from the starting lineup," the NFLPA wrote in a letter to the Broncos, obtained by The Washington Post.

“If the Broncos follow-through on the Club’s threat, the Club will violate, among other things, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Mr. Wilson’s Player Contract and New York law. And, we are particularly concerned that the Broncos still intend to commit these violations under the guise of ‘coaching decisions.’

“Accordingly, we write to notify you that the NFLPA and Mr. Wilson ‘reasonably anticipate’ arbitration and/or litigation against the Broncos and the Management Council, triggering your respective obligations to preserve potentially relevant documents."

Wilson, 35, reportedly expects to be released by the Broncos in March. But his canon is far from written as he may not go quietly into that good night.

“Once presumably released before the fifth day of the new league year, Wilson could sign somewhere for the veteran minimum, effectively sticking Denver with all but $1 million of a $39 million bill of guarantees baked into 2024,” ESPN's Jeremy Fowler speculated Tuesday.

“After a messy exit, would Wilson — who has a no-trade clause and the chance to be a free agent for the first time in his career — be inclined to help the Broncos by approving a [trade] deal? I’ve talked to several people who believe he likely wouldn’t do Denver any favors," Fowler added.

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