NOpe. Soccer is a business. The reason they claim “football is family” is because it benefits businesses.
Following the Broncos’ decision to bench quarterback Russell Wilson, some have forgotten the financial considerations that guide every choice a franchise makes, nearly every day. Every player now on the team was once a player. The only thing left to decide is if he will be traded, dismissed, or not re-signed before he can officially retire.
The Broncos acquired Wilson through a trade, which was a business decision. A few months later, they took a calculated risk by ripping up his two-year contract and offering him a huge deal that would pay out $119 million over the first two seasons. He received an additional $5 million from the Seahawks.
The Broncos took a calculated risk on Tuesday by benching Wilson, supposedly to rekindle the offense. In doing so, they cleared the way for Wilson’s release prior to the completion of another $37 million in injury guarantees for 2025, on top of the $39 million in fully guaranteed compensation the Broncos owe Wilson for 2024.
Following the Broncos’ victory over the Chiefs on October 29, yet another business decision was made. The Broncos’ approach to Wilson regarding contract modifications appears strange at first, especially after the team’s 16-game lead over their AFC West rivals was eventually broken. But Denver’s bye week began that same week. The Broncos were 2-5 before their victory over the Chiefs. The Broncos have 2024 and 2025 in mind. The Broncos desired some contract flexibility from Wilson. The obvious time to put the plan into action was during the bye week.
A person with knowledge of the circumstances claims that Wilson wasn’t summoned to a meeting or given a coercive ultimatum. Everything was put in writing and sent to Mark Rodgers, his agent. Furthermore, while the proposal’s specifications are sufficiently sensitive to be impossible to validate, common logic indicates that the Broncos intended to move the date by which the $37 million contract would become fully guaranteed rather than just guaranteed in the event of an injury. The Broncos presumably desired to move the March 2024 vesting date to March 2025.
That would have freed up the two parties to extend their partnership for an additional season, without the Broncos having to pay him $37 million in 2025 if they decided to move on after 2024.
The offer, whatever its exact parameters, was turned down. Both parties advanced. Whether a threat or not, he started the next seven games.
It’s possible that the conditions of Wilson’s late-October request suggested that there was a threat to bench him. The Broncos have a strong incentive to make sure Wilson leaves the 2023 season without an injury that would prevent him from passing a physical before March 18, especially if they were worried about the $37 million injury guarantee for 2025 being converted to a full guarantee on the fifth day of the 2024 league year (March 18).
For this reason, late in the 2022 season, quarterback Derek Carr was benched by the Raiders. In the days following Super Bowl LVII, his $40 million injury guarantee would have grown to full value. It was a healthy moment for him. If Carr couldn’t have passed a physical by the middle of February 2023, the Raiders wouldn’t have wanted to take a chance on an injury that would have tied their hands over the $40 million.
Carr’s situation did not involve any dust-up. The NFL Players Association did intervene in this case. No formal grievance has been filed as of yet. To the best of our knowledge, Wilson and/or Rodgers had a negative response to the bye-week suggestion. This is expected since Rodgers works largely as a baseball agent. Contracts in baseball are totally guaranteed. Problems such as these don’t occur in baseball.
Regarding Wilson, there was undoubtedly a sense that the player’s foundation was being undermined. In reality, the structure of Wilson’s contract allowed the Broncos to make the business decision to remove Wilson from the starting lineup in order to preserve their ability to have all options available in the offseason.
Having said that, there is currently just one sensible choice. If coach Sean Payton doesn’t sufficiently believe in Wilson to allow him to finish the season as the starter, Payton doesn’t sufficiently believe in Wilson to allow another $37 million in 2025 salary to become fully guaranteed in March 2024.
That concludes the tale. The Broncos made a business decision not to commit another $37 million to a quarterback who hasn’t been as good as they thought he’d be. Wilson made a business decision to refuse to alter his contract, setting the stage for the business decision that was his eventual benching and the business decision that will be his inevitable release.
That’s what it has all been, and what it will continue to be. A series of business decisions made by both sides. As business decisions made on a constant basis by NFL teams go, a business decision that ultimately results in the player receiving $158 million through 2024 is the kind of business decision that precious few players ever experience.
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