Russell Wilson breaks silence with X post after Broncos benching

NFL

By Christian Arnold

Russell Wilson seemingly addressed the news of his benching and likely end of his tenure with the Broncos with a post on X on Wednesday night. 

It had been a truly whirlwind day for the veteran quarterback after it was first reported by ESPN that Denver was handing over the starting job to Jarrett Stidham.

The Athletic later reported that the Broncos were planning to cut Wilson in March to end what has been an underwhelming marriage. 

Amid all this, Wilson hadn’t been heard from until late Wednesday night when he finally broke the silence in a cryptic post on X. 

“God’s got me. Looking forward to what’s next,” Wilson simply wrote. 

The situation between Wilson and the Broncos appeared to deteriorate quickly, but under the surface, Wilson reportedly had known for months that they were planning on moving on from him. 

According to The Athletic, the Broncos reached out on Oct. 29 to tell a Wilson representative that the signal-caller would lose his role as the starter and that he would be made inactive for the rest of the year if he didn’t defer an injury guarantee trigger date he has for 2025.

Inside the Broncos’ locker room on Wednesday, the news seemed to catch some players off guard, including wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.

“I’m pretty surprised. He just told us out of nowhere, so yeah I was pretty surprised,” Jeudy told reporters. “Having Russ [as] our starting the quarterback the whole year, then the last two games, being a switch. I think it was a surprise to everybody in the locker room.” 

The financial implications — with Wilson reportedly guaranteed $37 million in 2025 if he’s injured and can’t pass a physical — have been hard to avoid in the whole situation, despite the efforts of head coach Sean Payton, who told reporters that the decision was based on the team “desperately trying to win.” 

Wilson has spent two seasons in Denver following a trade in 2022 from the Seahawks. 

In that time, Wilson has started 30 games and has thrown for 6,594 yards, 42 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.