Why did Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson believe that the team had threatened to bench him if he didn’t adjust the vesting date of his $37 million salary for 2025? According to Wilson’s agent, that’s what the Broncos told him.
In a Sunday phone conversation with PFT, Mark Rodgers said he received a call on October 31 from G.M. George Paton and V.P. of football administration Rich Hurtado. They explained that, if Wilson did not delay the conversion of the 2025 salary from guaranteed for injury to fully guaranteed, Wilson would be not only benched but also made inactive for the rest of the season.
The Broncos declined to comment in response to the allegation from Rodgers. The team deferred to Friday’s comments from coach Sean Payton on the matter.
“I’m not privy to any of those [discussions],” Payton said. “I’m handling the football. I know this. The No. 1 reason for taking this job for me was ownership and winning. Certainly, the tradition here mattered, relative to being at a place where it’s important, but that’s something George [Paton] and the front office — I’m not involved in any of that. Certainly, I am involved in a lot, but there will be a time and a place at the end of the season where some of the questions that you may have, someone else will be able to answer.
“My focus has been on winning, and I am going to go back to what I said at the beginning of the week. I know how this has been written, but this decision strictly is what I believe gives us a chance to win No. 8. It’s a hard decision, but for me where I’m at in my career, that is all I am interested in — getting another win. There would be no other reasons. Russ has had a great week. He’s handled it well professionally, but I just know how [owner] Greg [Penner], [owner] Carrie [Walton Penner] and the ownership group want to handle. This is a place that’s special, and we only get to be here for a while. Our job is to make sure we carry that torch. The focus for me this week has been our team and I think sometimes that’s part of being the head coach. I’ll leave it at that.”
Leave is the key word. When the season ends, Wilson will be leaving. The things that happened in late October and early November — and the fact that some of the acrimony and conflict is coming to light now — will make it difficult if not impossible for these two sides to work together in 2024.
