The Denver Broncos have made a lot of headlines this past week. They made a stunning move by announcing that they planned to bench QB Russell Wilson for the rest of the season. With the way Wilson’s contract is structured, this move likely means the end of his time on the Denver Broncos.
However, this move has not sat well with players around the league. Now, a recent report gives us more insight into how Wilson’s treatment could hurt the Broncos’ image.
NFL Players Think Denver Broncos Treated Russell Wilson Poorly
According to a report from Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, players around the NFL seem to feel that the Broncos handled this situation with Russell Wilson poorly. As a result, it is likely going to make Denver a less desirable landing spot for free agents. This means that the Broncos are going to have to overpay players to entice free agents.
The specific criticism comes from how this has loomed over Wilson’s head all season. This dates back to October. Wilson claimed that the Broncos wanted Wilson to restructure his contract back then otherwise they would bench him. Wilson refused and now the Broncos are benching him.
Reaction to the Move
This move was stunning, to say the least. However, it has sparked some strong reactions from people inside and outside of the organization.
One reaction came from Broncos head coach Sean Payton. He addressed the media in a press conference shortly after this announcement. During that press conference, Payton mentioned that he could not replace the entire offensive line and all of the wide receivers. The implication seemed to be that it was easier to replace an expensive quarterback.
However, that statement sparked a reaction from certain people. One of those people is former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Antonio Brown. He criticized Payton and the Broncos for pinning all of the blame on Wilson. Brown also hinted that the NFL front office was not afraid to pile blame on one convenient player once they no longer needed said player.
Denver Broncos Moving Forward
The Broncos are going to have their work cut out for them. They had a very poor start to this season at 1-5. Since then, they managed to claw their way back up to a 7-8 record. However, a stunning loss on Christmas Eve to the New England Patriots all but eliminated their playoff chances.
This put Denver in a tough financial position. They either have to roll with Wilson as a very expensive quarterback. Or, they would have to pay nearly $40 million to buy Wilson out one of these next two seasons. The Broncos have chosen to do the latter and not live up to their full contract agreement. Now, it appears other players are taking notice of this.
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1 Comment
Bronos/Payton doing him dirty is probably the best thing for him.