Russell Wilson on Friday said the Broncos approached him during the team's bye week and informed him that if he didn't agree to delay a contract trigger guaranteeing his 2025 salary, he'd be benched for the team's final nine games.
The Broncos were 3-5 at the time but coming off back-to-back wins against Green Bay and Kansas City, the latter of which ended a 16-game losing streak to the division rival.
"We beat the Chiefs. They came up to me during the bye week, beginning of the bye week — Monday or Tuesday — and told me that if I didn't change my contract, my injury guarantee, that I'd be benched for the rest of the year," Wilson told reporters at his locker in his first public comments since he was benched Wednesday by coach Sean Payton. "I think we had nine games left or so.
"I was definitely disappointed about it. It was a process throughout the whole week, the bye week."
Wilson said the NFL Players Association and the league office got involved in the conversations during the week. By the time Denver returned to the field, multiple sources told The Denver Post no changes were made to Wilson's contract.
The language at issue was Wilson's $37 million in salary for the 2025 season, which is set to become guaranteed if he's on the roster March 17. Since NFL players cannot be cut if they're injured, any major injury to Wilson over the second half of the season that prevented him from passing a physical in March would lock Denver into paying his 2025 salary regardless of if he returns to the Broncos next year.
"I wasn't going to remove or push or take away my injury guarantee," Wilson said. "This game is such a physical game. I've played 12 years. That matters to me."
Payton on Friday said he was "not privy" to the conversations between Wilson, his agent and the Broncos front office from earlier in the season.
"I'm handling the football," Payton said. "I know this: The No. 1 reason for taking this job for me was ownership and winning. Certainly the tradition here mattered relative to being at a place where it's important. That's something for (general manager George Paton) and the front office. I'm not involved in any of that. Certainly I'm involved in a lot and there will be a time and a place at the end of the season where some of the questions you might have, somebody else will be able to answer.
"My focus has been on winning."
The Broncos didn't make Paton or CEO Greg Penner available for comment this week, deferring to Payton's Friday comments.
Payton reiterated that he benched Wilson this week because of football reasons and because he thinks Jarrett Stidham can provide a spark for an offense that's struggled in recent weeks.
Wilson, though, has played the second half of the season not knowing if he might be told he's no longer playing essentially at any point.
He said he didn't know when he returned from the bye week if he'd be benched or continue starting. Obviously, he retained the starting spot and Denver beat Buffalo on the road, then Minnesota and Cleveland at home to get to 6-5 on the season.
"That was an exciting time," Wilson said. "It definitely hurt, it was a low blow for a bit, but at the same time, at the end of the day, I just want to keep my head down and do what I can do each play, each game, each moment. Going to Buffalo and winning that game, going to Kansas City and then beating Buffalo … Minnesota and Cleveland, those are good teams and we did it here and we fought and we did everything we could.
"That was the fun part and that's all I've ever cared about is winning."
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