SAD NEWS ;DENVER BRONCOS COACH HAS BEEN SACK

Throughout a large portion of their Sunday Night Football game, the Denver Broncos struggled against the New England Patriots defense and ultimately lost a significant opportunity to raise their postseason prospects. They played at Mile High’s Empower Field and tied the game late, but ultimately lost 26–23.

The Denver Broncos struggled against the New England Patriots defense for a lengthy period of their Sunday Night Football game, and as a result, they squandered a big chance to improve their postseason prospects. They played at Empower Field at Mile High and tied the game in the last moments before losing 26–23.

The Denver Broncos’ dreams of making the playoffs were dashed as the club collapsed in a 26-23 loss to the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve. Russell Wilson, the quarterback for the Broncos, started the fourth quarter with just 84 passing yards, but he was the main force behind his team’s furious comeback to level the score with 3:40 remaining.

Still, it was another unpleasant performance from Wilson, much of it eerily reminiscent of Tim Tebow’s 2011 Denver record. Although Tebow is clearly a lot more skilled and talented passer than Wilson, the current quarterback for the Broncos shares Tebow’s tendency of horribly fouling up the stadium for three and a half quarters before turning on the juice and pulling off late-game miracles.

Wilson’s future with the Broncos is in doubt as a result of the team’s collapse to 7-8 on the season and their pitiful 5% playoff chances. Wilson was questioned about his future in Denver by local radio presenter Darren McKee following the game.

Wilson stated, “I’m just worried about playing great football next week,” in a slightly dejected manner. “I came here to find a way to win and win a title for us. Of course, I enjoy being here with these teammates, these men. I can’t wait to continue playing hard and playing ball for us.

A few questions later, Wilson—who had been asked to “do the math” on his team’s postseason odds as an eight-losing team—uncharacteristically left the podium with a “‘Ppreciate you guys” remark. Although Russ had an undoubtedly difficult night and faced some almost dire consequences, I wonder how much of his sudden departure was brought on by the uncertainty about his future.

On March 21, 2024, Wilson’s whole $37 million pay for the next season becomes fully guaranteed if he is still a member of the Broncos team. Because of this, some in the media have made that date seem like the Broncos’ deadline.

However, in actuality, Sean Payton is limited in his options because to the dead money hits the Broncos’ salary cap would incur should they decide to trade Wilson. Wilson would carry a $35.4 million dead-cap hit in 2024 alone, followed by $18.4 million in 2025 and 2026, and $8.4 million in 2027, if he were to be released after June 1.

Wilson’s 2028 contract will expire on June 1, 2024, and if he is cut after that date, the Broncos will be left with a $4.4 million dead-cap hit. Regarding being a pre-June 1 cut, you shouldn’t even consider the consequences because the $85M Year 1 dead-cap hit is on its own.

These are the ramifications of agreeing to a $245 million, five-year contract extension for the nine-time Pro Bowl player in August 2022. Before Wilson even played a game in the regular season with the Broncos, he received a $165 million guaranteed contract plus a $124 million signing bonus.

In order to get Wilson, the Broncos had to give up numerous first and second round picks (plus more), along with three players (one of whom was a former first round pick and the other a second round pick) to Seattle. The contract wouldn’t be as awful if he had arrived and performed at a level worthy of his consistently strong Pro Bowl record.

However, that deal and the way it was written become a huge burden hanging over the Broncos’ neck when Wilson is making an APY of $49M and the team isn’t seeing results in the standings. The Broncos’ options are further restricted by the fact that they are already expected to be over the cap in 2024 by $18.1 million.

Has Wilson only been terrible things? Not this year, please. In his twelfth season, Payton has unquestionably been a net benefit for the seasoned signal-caller.

In Saturday night’s defeat, Wilson completed 25 of 37 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He lost a fumble even though he didn’t throw a pick, and that ratio was typical of his season in general—very few interceptions but still too many turnovers.

After the game, Payton stated of Wilson, “I was proud of how he battled, especially when we were down two touchdowns.” “He fights and drags us back into the conflict. Despite the difficulty of the task, he completed it rather quickly.

Wilson only completed 16 touchdown throws to 11 interceptions while playing under Nathaniel Hackett last season. Wilson has a 26-to-8 TD-to-INT ratio under Payton, which is the most throwing touchdowns by a Broncos quarterback since Peyton Manning’s 39 in 2014. On the surface, this seems respectably good given his 2022 résumé.

However, it hides the significant deficiency in passing yards that has hampered the Broncos’ offensive progress. In his 15th game of the season, Wilson eclipsed 3,000 yards on Saturday night (3,070). With an average of 204.6 passing yards per game, that is insufficient to compete with the dominant teams that populate the 17-game schedule in the modern NFL.

Payton’s tactical choice to adopt a run-first system, which is intended to shield Wilson and capitalize on his abilities as a play-action passer, is partially to blame for that. Wilson hasn’t been able to take advantage of Payton’s catering, though, as he has left far too many yards on the field due to holding onto the ball too long, missed throws, and missing wide-open receivers.

Despite having a five-year contract, Wilson is being asked to talk about his future with the Broncos for a reason. In fact, he has five more years left on his contract with the Broncos; it doesn’t even begin until the next season. Despite receiving the full amount of money from the Broncos, including the signing bonus, he has been playing with the remaining terms of his previous contract from Seattle.

In 2024, Wilson will begin his 36th season. Year 2 of Payton’s quest to restore the Broncos to prominence is about to begin.