Why Broncos Owner Greg Penner’s Decision to Hold Off on Paying Russell Wilson Could Change the NFL’s Future

Still, the Broncos ultimately gave Wilson 4 million (minus the league-minimum .21 million he earned in Pittsburgh last year) for two seasons of so-so football. While not the same degree of disaster as the Deshaun Watson contract for the Broncos, it was a very bad deal for the Broncos.

It would have been the smart move. Wilson always received new contracts with one year left on his existing deal. The Broncos could have given Wilson a year to prove that he can still cook, before burning millions on his next contract.In contemporaneous notes created by Penner at the time, he wrote this: “2 years left on contract, why not wait?”When you peel back the layers of the recent 61-page collusion grievance ruling, you stumble onto some truly gripping nuggets—especially revolving around the contract that Broncos QB Russell Wilson inked in 2022, right after his big move from Seattle to Denver. Now, while we’re gearing up for a thorough breakdown of the Watson saga soon, I can’t help but tip my hat to Greg Penner, the fresh-faced Broncos owner back then, whose instincts simply screamed caution. Penner’s notes from that period bluntly ask, “2 years left on contract, why not wait?” — and honestly, it makes a ton of sense. Historically, Wilson locks down new deals with just a year left on the clock, so a pause to see if he could still deliver would’ve been the savvy play. Instead? Denver plunged 4 million in guaranteed cash from 2022 through 2024, only to cut Wilson loose before that hefty 2025 injury guarantee kicked in. It’s a deal that, while not quite as catastrophic as the Watson debacle, still left the Broncos with a tough pill to swallow for two middling seasons. And the kicker? This whole mess could’ve been dodged had the team simply heeded Penner’s advice and hit the pause button. LEARN MOREThe 61-page ruling in the collusion grievance contains plenty of fascinaring details. Several of them relate to the contract signed by Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022, after the trade that brought him to Denver from Seattle.A deeper dive on the Watson negotiations and eventual deal is coming. For now, it’s important to applaud the instincts of then new-owner Greg Penner.

And the Broncos could have avoided it, if they’d simply acted on the instincts of their new owner and waited until after the 2022 season to fashion a new contract (if any) with Wilson.But the Broncos didn’t wait, committing 4 million to Wilson in full guarantees from 2022 through 2024. And they cut him in March 2024, before his million injury guarantee for 2025 became fully guaranteed.