Russell Wilson Has Been Benched For Remainder Of Season
The Denver Broncos are dropping a bombshell upon the sports world. According to head coach Sean Payton, starting quarterback Russell Wilson has been benched for the remainder of the season. Furthermore, Jarrett Stidham will now be the franchise’s starter for the last two games.
Is this a total surprise? No. It’s not difficult to see there’s some tension between head coach and quarterback this year.
Additionally, early on speculation arose that the feud could be about about the massive contract for Wilson. For instance, if he suffers a catastrophic injury between now and March 2024 he will be guaranteed $37 million. The speculation is substantiated according a social media post from Jordan Schultz:
“The Broncos threatened to bench Russell Wilson weeks ago if he didn’t remove his injury guarantees. Russell Wilson’s benching by the Broncos today is solely financially related and has been in the works for weeks, per multiple sources with direct access to the situation.”
Broncos QB Russell Wilson is Hitting Bench, in Comes Stidham
Regarding the backup QB, Payton praised Jarrett Stidham for his arm strength and decision making. He came into the league in 2019 and was a backup for the New England Patriots. In 2020 he remained on their roster; but was out of the league in 2021. Then in 2022 he was a backup for the Las Vegas Raiders. In total he has played in 13 games during his career.
Clearly, Stidham is not a better option, nor does he give them the best chance to win. So it would seem that benching Wilson is not about his performance. In his press conference today, Payton said they are, “desperately trying to win.” Not if you just benched your best quarterback. Here are his stats for 2023:
Russell Wilson 2023 stats:
3411 Total Yards
29 TDs
8 INTS
98 Passer Rating
66.5% CMP
3 Rushing Touchdowns
4 fourth quarter comebacks
4 game winning drives
And here is Patrick Mahomes (a QB many would consider elite):
3938 Total Yards
26 TDs
14 Interceptions
91.7 Passer Rating
0 Rushing Touchdowns
Russell Wilson Has Been Benched For Remainder Of Season
The relationship between Payton and Wilson has been rocky at best. Payton was seen yelling at Wilson on the sidelines in their 42-17 loss to the Lions. Moreover, Sean’s own coaching of the defense surely deserves some of the blame for the loss, right?
However, Sean seems to want to pass blame solely on Wilson. After all of this Denver hoopla Russell could just choose to retire. Or if he still wishes to play next season; there will no doubt be many teams that would love to have him come aboard.
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