In case I I didn’t make myself understood on Tuesday, the Deshaun Watson contract will never happen again. Going forward, no NFL player will have a fully guaranteed contract. On the one hand, Patrick Mahomes is I’m not going to push THE Kansas City Chiefs for this type of agreement. Secondly, when the Denver Broncos » said Russell Wilson, they made sure to leave a small escape hatch.
By trading for Wilson and signing him to a five-year, $200 million-plus contract extension that doesn’t even kick in until the 2024 season, the Broncos will have to pay a ton of money. However, they can save some with a decision which was taken on Wednesday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Broncos will start Jarrett Stidham on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Broncos hired Sean Payton following a disastrous 2022 season. A move that made it clear Wilson was no longer the star of the organization. Payton exploded in Wilson in their Week 15 loss to the Detroit Lions. After a loss on Christmas Eve for the humble New England Patriots, in which they trailed 20-7 in the fourth quarter, this move could be seen as Payton wanting to see what the offense looks like under Stidham. Plus, if Wilson doesn’t play, he can’t get hurt. As long as he passes his physical in March, they won’t owe him a $37 million injury guarantee.
If the Broncos decide to fire Wilson this offseason, which many NFL initiated I believe this is the inevitable result of the decision to bench him, they will pay him $39 million and take an $85 million salary cap hit. A hit that can be spread over two seasons. If the Broncos decide to go this route, they’ll at least be able to field a team while absorbing all that dead money.
That’s an option the Browns don’t have. If they cut Watson this offseason — remember that in 2022 his salary was the veteran minimum — that would result in at least $156 million in dead money. According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, if they freed him after June 1, the cap reached in 2024 and 2025 would be $110 million. Releasing him before then would result in $201 million in dead money on the Browns’ books for next season. The salary cap for the 2023 NFL season stands at just over $224 million. They should recover the offensive line of The replacements field a team in 2024.
The Broncos and Browns traded their respective quarterbacks within days of each other in 2022. They were two seismic moves made by teams that thought they were one quarterback away from winning a Super Bowl.
After watching the Browns play with Joe Flacco in recent weeks, it seems all they needed was decent quarterback play. He’s played like himself — big throws and plenty of steals — but the offense is moving more efficiently than it ever has with Watson at the helm.
What if the Browns made a deep playoff run, but missed the Super Bowl? They need to put Watson behind center next season and hope for the best, because even though he’s not the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, he has the strongest grip on his team’s finances.
The Broncos clearly need more than just a quarterback to make the Super Bowl, but they could certainly use better play at the position. The answer to that question isn’t Stidham, but it seems they no longer believe Wilson is either.
Although the team would be financially hampered by Wilson’s release, his contract was structured in a manner largely typical of the NFL. By doing this, the Broncos can heal their financial wounds and heal. The Browns put themselves in a position where they would have cut their legs at the knee if they released Watson.
A situation that NFL owners never want to happen to them again. Because God forbid billionaires are forced to make sound financial decisions without bumpers on the bowling alley.
