Football is family.
No. Football is a business. They say “football is family” because it’s good for business to say “football is family.”
Following the Broncos' replacement of quarterback Russell Wilson, some have lost sight of the business realities that underlie every team's decision almost every day. Every player on the squad is a former former player. The only question is whether he will be released, not re-signed, or traded before he can retire.
The Broncos made a business decision when they traded for Wilson. A few months later, they made a business decision when they terminated his existing contract – which still had two years left – and gave him a major contract that paid him $119 million over the first two seasons. (He got another $5 million from the Seahawks.)
The Broncos made a business decision on Tuesday by reportedly sitting Wilson down to spark the offense, setting the stage for Wilson to be released before another $37 million in 2025 injury guaranties become fully guaranteed, along with the $39 million in fully guaranteed compensation the Broncos owe Wilson for 2024.
Another business decision was made after the Broncos defeated the Chiefs on October 29th. On the surface, it seems odd that the Broncos would turn to Wilson to modify his contract after Kansas City finally ended its 16-game stranglehold over their AFC West rivals. But it was also the start of Denver's bye week. Before the win over the Chiefs, the Broncos were 2-5. The Broncos were thinking about 2024 and 2025. The Broncos wanted some flexibility on Wilson's contract. The bye week was the obvious time to implement the strategy.
According to a source familiar with the situation, Wilson was not invited to a meeting and was given a harsh ultimatum. Everything was put in writing and shared with his agent, Mark Rodgers. And while the details are so sensitive that it's difficult to confirm the specifics of the proposal, common sense suggests the Broncos wanted to push back the date when the $37 million salary would be guaranteed-only Injuries should be converted to a full guarantee. Presumably the Broncos wanted to move the vesting date from March 2024 to March 2025.
This would have allowed the two sides to continue the relationship for another season without the Broncos committing to paying him an additional $37 million in 2025 if the decision to move was made after 2024.
Whatever the exact terms, the offer was rejected. The two sides advanced. Dangerous or not, he remained the starter for seven more games.
If there was a threat to bench Wilson, it may have been implicit in the terms of the late October motion. If the Broncos were concerned that the $37 million 2025 injury guarantee might be converted to a full guarantee on the fifth day of the 2024 league year (March 18), the Broncos obviously have a clear incentive to make it happen That Wilson will emerge from the 2023 season without an injury that would prevent him from passing a physical exam before March 18.
That's why the Raiders benched quarterback Derek Carr toward the end of the 2022 season. He had a $40 million injury guarantee, which would have become a full guarantee in the days following Super Bowl LVII. He was healthy then. The Raiders didn't want to risk an injury that would tie their hands to $40 million if Carr didn't pass a physical exam by mid-February 2023.
In Carr's case, there was no dust raised. In this case, the NFL Players Association actually got involved. No formal complaint has been made to date. As far as we know, Wilson and/or Rodgers reacted negatively to the bye week proposal. This is no surprise; Rodgers is first and foremost a baseball agent. In baseball, contracts are fully guaranteed. Such problems do not arise in baseball.
As for Wilson, there was certainly a feeling that the rug had been pulled out from under the player. In fact, the structure of Wilson's contract allowed the Broncos to make the business decision to cut Wilson from the starting lineup in order to preserve their ability to have all options available in the offseason.
However, there is currently only one option that makes sense. If coach Sean Payton doesn't believe in Wilson enough to allow him to finish the season as a starter, Payton doesn't believe in Wilson enough to allow March 2024 to fully guarantee another $37 million salary in 2025 becomes.
So that's the story. The Broncos made a business decision not to pay another $37 million to a quarterback who wasn't as good as they thought. Wilson made a business decision to refuse to modify his contract, setting the stage for the business decision that led to his eventual removal and the business decision that will mean his inevitable firing.
This is what everything has been and what it will continue to be. A series of business decisions from both sides. Because NFL teams make business decisions all the time, a business decision that ultimately results in the player being paid $158 million through 2024 is the type of business decision few players ever make.