Wilson’s divorce from Payton has Broncos Country pointing fingers
Should Russell Wilson be forgot and never brought to mind?
“Right or wrong, I sort of thought we should stick with him,” Porter told me Sunday as he and son Jack took a took a break during the third quarter of Sunday’s Backup Bowl at Empower Field.
“The season’s not perfect, but we’ve won some big games. And I would have rather seen us stick with (Wilson) and say, ‘You know, maybe this was bad money, but we’re the ones who gave him a very lucrative contract … we submitted that contract, and I think we’ve got to see it through.’ (Instead), the (Broncos) are benching him for two games, and they’re gonna eat, you know, $30 million of dead money next year and $35 million
(the next) … I mean, you know, we sort of made this bed. We ought to lie in it.”
While the Broncos were hammering the final nails into a grindy New Year’s Eve victory over a Chargers team with interim coach Giff Smith on the headsets and Cancun on the brain, Andrew and Jack watched in matching orange “WILSON 3” jerseys. Dad sported the Color Rush version; Jack, the more modern visage, bemusedly watching quarterback Jarrett Stidham notch his first NFL victory as the clock likely struck midnight on Wilson’s home games in Orange and Blue.
“I’m not a huge Russell Wilson fan,” Andrew clarified as the Broncos won a 16-9 rock fight before nearly 10,000 no-shows. “He’s OK, I guess.
“But I feel like the Broncos have been making these decisions, these big, bold decisions — signing Sean Payton, signing Russell Wilson, doing all these things, the new ownership group, (hiring) Nathaniel Hackett last year, and we just can’t stick with our decisions. We can’t stick with our commitments. And I feel like we should. I feel like if we’re gonna spend all this money and draft picks, like, yeah, we gave it all up. We might as well just go with what we paid for.”
If Week 17 was indeed Wilson’s last appearance at Empower Field as a member of the Broncos, his legacy — an 11-19 record as a starter, a trade that cost Denver four draft picks — was mixed. So was the reaction inside Broncos Country.
“I don’t know if (the decision was) tough for me because I was never a Russ fan anyway,” countered Clint Holt, a seasonticket holder from Aurora. “It’s much easier for me to jump on the Stidham (wagon) … I didn’t agree with (Wilson) coming here anyway after Seattle. I felt like he was kind of on (the) down (side) … I felt like we were trying to repeat the Peyton Manning thing.”
Hey, Holt’s all for changing course at quarterback. And his sails are pointed directly at the Windy City. ”i’m more, ‘Let’s go after (the Bears’) Justin Fields,’” he added. “I think Fields — I feel like he’s not at his potential in Chicago. I’ve just got that feeling. And I feel like that change, bringing him here, just seems like a good fit to me.”
Holt was so ready to turn the page on Big Russ, he brought a Broncos “4” jersey to Sunday’s home finale. A nice one, too. Sewn numbers. The whole shebang.
In honor of Stidham’s first Broncos start?
Holt turned around. “Britton Colquitt,” he laughed, pointing at the stitched name plate. “It was the only ‘4’ I had.”
For Andrew Porter and his Russ jersey, there’s always ebay. For Jack, well …
“He’s 10, so he’ll grow out of his,” Andrew laughed. Then he presented the question of the day to his son.
“Do you think they should’ve stuck with Russ?”
Jack shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you think about Russ?” “I think he’s an OK player,” Jack replied.
And that’s the rub, isn’t it? Wilson is just … OK.
But with a $22 million cap number, “OK” takes up roughly 10% of the team’s current salary liabilities. Wilson’s in line for a $35.4 million cap hit next fall, good for at least 13.6% of the projected team liability count, per Overthecap.com. The Broncos gave Big Russ a Nikola Jokic deal for Jusuf Nurkic production.
George Paton’s March 2022 trade — when the revolving door behind center includes Jeff Driskel and Brandon Allen, you’ve got problems — was risky but defensible. The Broncos’ contract extension, announced in September of last year, looks certifiably Looney Tunes.
Don’t blame the marriage. Blame the prenup. NFL franchises that don’t plan for, or presume, a quick divorce for a quarterback in his mid-30s deserve to lose their shirts. NFL fan bases don’t.
“I absolutely agree with that,” Porter offered with a nod. “We keep making these bad decisions. And then we reverse course very quickly. Then make another bad decision, reverse course, and make another bad decision.
I’m like, ‘Oh my God, you guys have got to stop doing this.”
The sooner, the better.