Mile High Huddle

Report: Russell Wilson Expects to be Cut by Broncos in March

Wilson is "looking forward to what's next."

Zack Kelberman

In this story:

The Russell Wilson era is over in Denver — and the veteran quarterback knows it.

Per The Athletic's Dianna Russini, Wilson expects to be released by the Broncos in March, a fate he's been resigned to for "almost two months." Russini also echoed a Wednesday report that Wilson was benched for the remainder of the season due to the $37 million in injury protection set to become guaranteed on the fifth day of the new league year in 2024.

Russell Wilson is expecting to be cut by the Denver Broncos in March, per league sources. For almost two months, the quarterback has been starting knowing the organization was most likely going to move on him from after this season.

The Broncos reached out to Wilson's representatives in late October and explained that Wilson would lose the starting job and be made inactive for the rest of the season if he did not defer the injury guarantee trigger date that he has for 2025, per multiple league sources.

Wilson has $37 million in injury guarantees for 2025 that will become guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2024 league year in March. Lawyers, including some with the NFLPA, were involved, and no changes were made to the contract.

Both the rumor that he was "threatened" to strike the guaranteed cash and his impending departure were seemingly confirmed by Wilson, who broke his silence on X (formerly Twitter).

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No matter how they dice it, cutting Wilson will come at a staggering cost — $85 million in dead money for the 2024 campaign. The Broncos can split the difference with a post-June 1 designation which would leave behind $35.4 million in dead cap next year and $49.6 million in 2025. This, of course, was built into the $245 million extension he inked in Sept. 2022.

But with head coach/offensive play-caller Sean Payton fed up, hamstrung by Wilson's physical limitations and mental-processing lapses, it's a massive bullet the Broncos evidently feel is worth taking.

"Sure, in our game today there are economics and all those other things, but the No. 1 push behind this—and it’s a decision I’m making—is to get a spark offensively," Payton said Wednesday of benching Wilson.

Denver anticipates dressing Wilson as a backup for the final two games, his last moments in an orange and blue uniform. The 35-year-old will soon be donning different colors.

The only question that remains is: Whose?

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Zack Kelberman
ZACK KELBERMAN

Zack Kelberman is the Senior Editor for Mile High Huddle. He has covered the NFL for more than a decade and the Denver Broncos since 2016. He's also the co-host of the wildly popular Broncos show the Mile High Huddle Podcast.

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