BRONCOS REACH FIVE-YEAR, $245 MILLION EXTENSION AGREEMENT WITH QB RUSSELL WILSON
The Denver Broncos and quarterback Russell Wilson agreed to terms on a five-year, $245 million on Thursday, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The deal includes $165 million in guaranteed money, the third most guaranteed money in league history after Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback Kyler Murray and Cleveland Browns’ Deshaun Watson got $189 million and $230 million in guaranteed money this offseason. The deal now ties Wilson to Denver for a total of seven years and $296 million including the two seasons that Wilson had remaining on his previous deal with Seattle. Wilson will be 40 years old when he hits free agency ahead of the 2029 season. The nine-time Pro Bowler has said previously that he would like to play until he’s 45 years old.
The deal now makes Wilson the second-highest paid quarterback in the league in terms of average annual pay at $49 million, a million dollars less than Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers who is on $50.271 million a year. The new contract improves his pay by $33 million as it moves up from $24 million in 2022 to $57 million in 2024. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Wilson will get $85 million over two years (up from $51 million he had left on his old deal) and $124 million over three years.
The deal is the richest in Broncos’ franchise history and comes only three weeks into the Walton-Penner Ownership Group’s tenure. The group’s $4.65 billion purchase of the Broncos was formally approved on August 9th via unanimous decision by the NFL owners. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the plan for the organization was for the new owners to come in, weigh the situation, understand the cap and act quickly, which they have. General Manager George Paton said after acquiring Wilson in March that the team’s goal was to sign the star quarterback to a long-term extension. The deal to tie down the former North Carolina State Wolfpack legend is reported to have involved five months of “quiet negotiations” as Wilson sat out all three preseason games for the Denver Broncos.
Greg Penner, now the Broncos CEO also said recently that it was “critical to have a great quarterback in this league, and coming in this organization with Russell in place is a tremendous benefit for us.” The Broncos have not had a franchise quarterback since Peyton Manning retired in 2016 and have had 10 different starting quarterbacks over the last six seasons, not to mention one game in which they played running back Phillip Lindsay as the team was without all three of their quarterbacks due to COVID-19 protocol violations. The Penners have made some quick changes and also appointed Damani Leech as President of the organization only days after taking over the team.
With Wilson entering his 11th season in the league and playing under former Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator and first-time head coach Nathaniel Hackett, the Denver Broncos had the option of letting Wilson play out at least one of the two years left on his previous deal before extending him but instead back him in an all-in play. The new deal is a vote of confidence from the organization that Wilson is the missing piece to their playoff puzzle. After all, Wilson is a former Super Bowl champion and helped generate 10-plus wins in eight of his 10 seasons in Seattle, while the Broncos have not been to the playoffs since their Super Bowl 50 win.
Russell Wilson will make his debut for the Denver Broncos when the team makes the trip north to Wilson’s former home in week 1 as the Broncos kick off a new era with a Monday Night matchup against the Seahawks in Seattle.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Mike Morris. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.