Broncos raised issue of adjusting language of Russell Wilson contract once, during their bye week

Football is family.

Nope. Football is business. They say “football is family” because it’s good for business to say “football is family.”

In the aftermath of the benching of quarterback Russell Wilson by the Broncos, some have lost sight of the business realities that underpin every decision made by every team, almost every day. Each player on the roster is an eventual former player. The only question is whether he’ll be released, not re-signed, or traded before he can retire.

The Broncos made a business decision when they traded for Wilson. They made a business decision several months later, when they tore up his existing contract — which had two years left on it — and gave him a massive deal that paid out $119 million over the first two seasons. (He got another $5 million from the Seahawks.)

The Broncos made a business decision on Tuesday, sitting Wilson down ostensibly to spark the offense and, in so doing, setting the stage of Wilson to be released before another $37 million in injury guarantees become fully guaranteed for 2025, along with the $39 million in fully guaranteed compensation that the Broncos owe Wilson for 2024.

Another business decision was made after the Broncos beat the Chiefs on October 29. On the surface, it seems odd that the Broncos would approach Wilson about tweaking his contract in the aftermath of finally ending Kansas City’s 16-game stranglehold over their AFC West rivals. But it was also the start of Denver’s bye week. Before beating the Chiefs, the Broncos had been 2-5. The Broncos were thinking about 2024 and 2025. The Broncos wanted some flexibility regarding Wilson’s contract. The bye week was the obvious moment to implement the strategy.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Wilson wasn’t brought into a meeting and given a strong-armed ultimatum. Everything was reduced to writing and communicated to his agent, Mark Rodgers. And while the details are sufficiently sensitive to make it difficult to confirm the specifics of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/broncos-raised-issue-adjusting-language-103620557.html

Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-29 10:36:20

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