Denver Broncos GM George Paton has denied that a midseason conversation about Russell Wilson’s contract was the reason that Wilson was benched for the final two games of the NFL season. “During the bye week, I did reach out to Russ’ agent in good faith and in a creative attempt to adjust his contract. We couldn’t get a deal done and we did move on with our season. It didn’t come up again. Fast forward, Week 17, Sean makes a change at the quarterback position. This was a football decision made by Sean in what he thought was the best interest of the team. This was completely independent of any conversation I had with the agent. Again, it was a football decision,” Paton said.
Furthermore, Paton’s comments came at the same press conference in which the Broncos denied reports they were preparing to cut Wilson in the offseason. “I told him, ‘Look, I don’t think it’s going to be a long, drawn-out process,’ but it hasn’t been decided relative to what our plans are. As soon as we know something certainly, he would be the first to know,” head coach Sean Payton said. “Yeah, listen, otherwise it would have been like ‘hey, goodbye. We’ll look at all the scenarios and try to do what’s best for the Broncos. But communication will be important, and, yeah, that final decision hasn’t been made,” Payton added when asked if conversations had included a path to retain Wilson.
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However, in December, Wilson claimed that he had been benched after refusing to waive an injury guaranteed in his contract. “They definitely told me I was going to be benched and all that. That whole bye week I didn’t know what was going to be the case. I was going to be ready to play, I wanted to go to Buffalo and beat Buffalo. I wasn’t going to remove the injury guarantee, this game is such a physical game, I’ve played 12 years and all that. And I want to be able to play, I want to be able to help this team win. Every time I step on the field it’s a physical game. I never play timid; I never play scared,” Wilson told reporters.
Specifically, as Wilson alluded to, the Broncos had wanted the veteran QB to defer an injury guarantee to 2025. Under the current language of Wilson’s contract, he would receive $37M in guaranteed money if he wasn’t able to pass a physical in March 2024. However, due to monetary concerns, Wilson had been asked to push the guarantee to 2025 or remove it entirely. Meanwhile, head coach Sean Payton cited the desire to trigger an “offensive spark” when benching Wilson. Furthermore, he denied any knowledge of the contract dispute. “I’m not privy to any of those [discussions], I’m handling the football. I know how this has been written, but this decision is strictly what I believe gives us a chance to win No. 8. Hard decision [but there] will be no other reasons,” Payton said.
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