Columnist Thinks Broncos Could Be Fools

Getty Russell Wilson throwing at practice.

Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson is going to get a contract extension. A lot of the media in town think the Broncos should hurry up and extend Wilson before his price tag gets too high.

Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post had a different take saying, “The Broncos would be fools to rush in and extend Wilson now.” Kiszla also asked the question, “What’s the rush to talk about a pile of money for Wilson, when new coach Nathaniel Hackett hasn’t fully installed his playbook and the Walton family ownership has yet to be formally approved?”

The 31 owners in the NFL will meet on August 9th to vote and approve Rob Walton as the next controlling owner of the Broncos and during that time, head coach Nathaniel Hackett will have fully installed his playbook into the Denver offense.

Broncos Are Ready to Pay

During Tuesday’s media barbecue, general manager George Paton talked with the media and was asked what kind of priority it is to extend Wilson during training camp.

“We all want Russell here a long time,” Paton said. “Out of respect for his team and our team, we’re going to keep it in-house, any discussions we may or may not have. I have a really good relationship with Russ’ agent, Mark Rodgers, and at the right time, we’ll get a deal done.”

After Wilson’s first training camp practice in the orange and blue, the new franchise quarterback was asked if he’s thought about a possible extension before the season and Wilson made it clear he’s not worried about money right now.

“I know I want to be here for a very long time, hopefully the rest of my career,” Wilson said.

Denver Will Have to Pay Big

The question then becomes, how much will Wilson get on his new contract. There hasn’t been a conclusion of how much is asking for even though many people are speculating.

Wilson signed a 4-year deal worth $140 million with $107 million in guarantees back in 2019. Currently, Wilson is playing in the third year of his four-year deal with an average salary of $35 million per year.

This kind of money ranks Wilson 9th in guaranteed money among quarterbacks as well as 9th in average salary per year with $35 million.

With a cap hit of $24 million this season and $27 million next season, the Broncos could extend him and lower his cap number by giving him more guaranteed money up front.

There’s no doubt Wilson wants to be one of the highest paid players in NFL history, but Wilson could also want to gain as much money as he can as he gets older.

The Broncos are going to look at where Wilson ranks among the top five highest paid gun-slingers in the NFL based off guaranteed money. Those quarterbacks are Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes.

It seems unlikely that Wilson will receive a fully guaranteed contract like Watson did worth $230 million over five years, but Wilson could get offered a deal similar to Kyler Murray’s. Murray received $160 million guaranteed over five years.

When you look at the numbers over the past two seasons, Murray has thrown for over 400 more yards than Wilson, but Wilson has thrown 15 more touchdowns and three less interceptions than Murray. Fun fact, they’ve both played exactly 30 games during the past two seasons.

Wilson could also go get a shorter deal on the length of the contract and make the entire deal fully guaranteed like Rodgers did with the Packers. This way Wilson might be able to get two shorter contracts from the Broncos and gain as much money as possible.

Either way, Wilson will get paid, but he might wait until Lamar Jackson signs his new deal.