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The Russell Wilson era with the Denver Broncos is coming to an end.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Broncos have informed Wilson that he is going to be released.
This means the Broncos and head coach Sean Payton will be choosing his next starting quarterback for the Denver franchise that’s been looking for their franchise gun-slinger since Peyton Manning.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Wilson will be released at the start of the NFL league year on March 13.
The Broncos will have to pay Wilson his $39 million fully guaranteed for this season minus what another team could sign him for this season. Denver will avoid Wilson’s $37 million guarantee trigger in 2025, per Mike Garafolo.
Broncos’ general manager George Paton and Payton released an official statement as well.
“We spoke with Russell Wilson today to inform him of his release after the start of the league year On behalf of the Broncos, we thank Russell for his contributions and dedication to our team and community while wishing him the best as he continues his career.”
As we move forward, we are focused on building the strongest team possible for the 2024 season and beyond. We are excited to improve this offseason and will have the flexibility to get better through the draft and free agency.”
Russell Wilson’s Time in Denver
In March of 2022, Wilson and a fourth-round pick was traded to Denver in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, and defensive lineman Shelby Harris.
In September of 2022, the Broncos gave a Wilson a five-year contract extension worth $245 million while he had two years remaining on his deal from the Seattle Seahawks.
There was hope that former Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who was the offensive coordinator for Aaron Rodgers, would be able to work with Wilson and solve the missing piece that the Broncos have been looking for.
Instead, things didn’t go as planned.
In Wilson’s first season in Denver, he had the worst statistical season of his NFL career.
During the 2022 season, Wilson threw a career-low 16 touchdown passes and had 11 interceptions in just 15 games. Wilson’s completion percentage of 60.5 percent was also the lowest in his career along with a passer rating of 84.4.
The Broncos would go 4-11 in that first season with Wilson as the starting quarterback.
After Hackett was fired just 15 games into the season, Denver went out and hired one of the best offensive minds in NFL history in Payton to be the head coach and fix Wilson’s struggles.
With Payton claiming that he knew how to fix Wilson, things still didn’t go as planned.
The Broncos would go 7-8 under Wilson starting games in 2023 and was then benched after Week 16’s loss to the New England Patriots. Denver started Jarrett Stidham for the final two games and they finished 1-1 in those games.
In his final season, Wilson completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 3,070 yards and 26 touchdowns.
After receiving the news, Wilson released a statement thanking Broncos Country.
Denver’s Options at QB for 2024
Since the Broncos won the 2016 Super Bowl with Manning under center, Denver has started 13 different starting quarterbacks.
There are plenty of avenues for the Broncos moving forward now.
The Broncos could look to free agency and try to add a veteran like Kirk Cousins, but they’ll need to do a lot of salary cap maneuvering to clear up cap space to fit Cousins into their cap.
Denver could also look to find a bridge quarterback like Ryan Tannehill, Jacoby Brissett, Mitchell Trubisky, or even Sam Darnold. Each of these quarterbacks will be looking to jumpstart their careers again.
The Broncos could also look to the 2024 NFL draft to select a quarterback they like in the first round like J.J. McCarthy, Drake Maye, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., or even Jayden Daniels.
It seems unlikely that the Broncos will be able to move up to the first-overall pick to draft Caleb Williams from USC.
The Broncos could even draft a quarterback in the later rounds of the draft to develop and sign a veteran bridge quarterback.
The final option, the Broncos keep Stidham for another year and look to add a quarterback after the 2024 season.
As of now, another one bites the dust in Denver and it all comes down to Payton in finding the savior for the most popular job title in Colorado.
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