ORLANDO, Fla. — On March 8, 2022, the Broncos traded a bevy of draft picks and players to Seattle for quarterback Russell Wilson and signed him to a five-year, $245 million contract extension before he played a game for them.
On March 13, 2024, Wilson was released and the Broncos incurred a $85 million salary-cap hit.
On Monday, general manager George Paton, who orchestrated the trade for Wilson, spoke to the media for the first time since his release.
“We took a shot on a quarterback who had a lot of success in this league,’’ Paton said at the NFL owners meetings. “(He had) nine Pro Bowls and won the most games in his first 10 years in the league. It wasn’t just Russ. There were a lot of contributing factors to why we didn’t win. At the end of the day, we didn’t play good enough offense, and we didn’t win enough games. I’m accountable for that. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Paton did appreciate the effort shown by Wilson, who went 11-19 as a starter with Denver a decade after winning Super Bowl XLVIII in the 2013 season for the Seahawks.
“No one tried harder than Russ to make this work, and we appreciate the effort and the professionalism that he showed,’’ Paton said. “Total pro. I wish him the best (with his new team) in Pittsburgh.”
Greg Penner, whose Walton-Penner family ownership group took over in August 2022, said he spoke to Wilson before the Broncos let him go and that he also wished him “the best moving forward.”
The Broncos made Wilson a June-1 cut designation and will take a $53 million cap hit in 2024 and a $32 million hit next year. Denver could have taken a lesser hit of $35.4 million in 2024 and $49.6 million in 2025.
“There were a number of factors that went into that,’’ Penner said. “We considered what we were going to do in free agency this year, and we obviously looked at the players that we had on the roster. We wanted to make sure we were going to be competitive for this upcoming season and also in the long term. We felt like we could take the bigger hit this year and still be successful and competitive this coming season and be in an even better position next year.”
The Broncos, who so far have signed just four outside free agents, are about $20 million under the cap.
Goodbye to Simmons
Broncos coach Sean Payton said it was tough earlier this month to release safety Justin Simmons, but the move was made for cap reasons. The Broncos saved $14.5 million due to that being the nonguaranteed base salary that was on the books for Simmons.
“It’s difficult (with) somebody like Justin, who’s been a first-class player for the organization, somebody I know who is highly respected in this league, certainly by us as coaches,’’ Payton said. "That’s the hard part of this job sometimes, and it wasn’t any fun.”
Paton called it a “hard” decision to release Simmons, who made two Pro Bowls in eight Denver seasons and was active in community work. He said the Broncos “wanted to do right by Justin” and release him the week before free agency “to get him on the market.” But he remains unsigned.
After losing Simmons, the Broncos signed free-agent safety Brandon Jones as a replacement.
“The flexibility of playing right and left maybe more than designated as strong or free, that was important,’’ Payton said of bringing in Jones. “He’s really athletic.”
Mims replacing Jeudy?
With wide receiver Jerry Jeudy having been traded to Cleveland, that opens the way for second-year man Marvin Mims Jr. to likely get more playing time.
“Marvin certainly will be a candidate to play more snaps because of that and there will be some competition, for sure,’’ Payton said.
Payton said he was happy to see Jeudy sign a three-year, $58 million contract extension last Tuesday after having been acquired March 13 by the Browns.
“I’m excited for him and his opportunity (with Cleveland),’’ Payton said. “He and I had a pretty close relationship and, obviously, how he was able to get a new contract, as coaches you want to see that for a player.”
New turf for Broncos
When the Broncos installed artificial turf 10 years ago in their indoor practice facility at the Centura Health Training Center, it was supposed to last 20 years. But the plan now is to replace it.
“We’re going to replace it with a state-of-the-art artificial surface that’s going to be better for our players with more padding and a different material,’’ Penner said. “It is something that they should really feel the impact of during our practices.”
The Broncos announced last fall that they will build a new practice facility to be completed in 2026. Construction will start this later this year but Penner said fans still will be on hand at training camp.
“We’re still debating exactly when we will start the project, whether that’s before or after training camp,’’ Penner said. “Either way, we’re going to find ways that fans can still experience it even if that is a big different than the past.”
Broncos president Damani Leech said the team “would like to avoid” moving training camp to another location during any year that construction is ongoing. But he said there could a reduced capacity at a future camp.
Briefly
Payton is happy to be reunited with defensive lineman Malcolm Roach, whom he coached with New Orleans from 2020-21. “He’s tough, he’s hard-nosed, and he’s a guy that gives you a little bit of position flex,’’ Payton said of Roach, who signed with Denver as a free agent after four seasons with the Saints. … At inside linebacker, the Broncos lost Josey Jewell to Carolina in free agency and signed free agent Cody Barton. There is still work to do. “We would like to get a little more athletic at the linebacker position for coverage and range,’’ Paton said. … Payton called it “not a big deal” that kicker Wil Lutz and linebacker Justin Strnad verbally agreed to deals with Jacksonville and Carolina, respectively, before the free agents opted to re-sign with Denver.
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