Aseven-year contract worth $50 million per year for Russell Wilson? That would not have aged well for the Denver Broncos.
Yet, according to a lawsuit filed by the NFLPA to the NFL, that is the exact deal the Broncos almost signed just three seasons ago.
The recently unveiled document by “Pablo Torre Finds Out” alleges the Broncos came very close to a fully guaranteed, long-term contract with Wilson after they acquired him from the Seattle Seahawks and only later came to their senses.
Wilson still signed a massive, five-year, $242-plus million deal with the Broncos, though he only spent two seasons in Denver before the team released him and he caught on with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wilson now expects to be the starting quarterback for the New York Giants this season after he signed a one-year contract with the team.
What Was Russell Wilson’s Contract Request From The Broncos?
Wilson was seeking a seven-year, $350 million contract that was fully guaranteed from the Broncos, and according to the lawsuit, Denver “did not blink” at the contract demand.
“Mr. Wilson testified that early in the discussions, with the Broncos he requested a
seven-year fully guaranteed contract of around $50 million a year,” the suit alleges, “and they didn’t blink.
“As Mr. Wilson explained, they kept sayjng, we’ll do whatever it takes. We’ll do whatever it takes.”‘
Yet, shortly after the deal, the suit again states that Broncos management balked at the fully guaranteed contract.
“However, after he waived his no-trade clause, and his trade to the Broncos became public, I would say shortly after, maybe within the next 10 days or so, they started getting cold feet on doing this fully guaranteed thing,” the suit stated.
Why Is The NFLPA Suing The NFL?
The NFL players association is suing NFL and its owners for collusion alleging owners worked together to keep fully guaranteed contracts for quarterbacks from becoming standard.
The suit alleges that, after Cleveland signed Deshaun Watson to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract, other high-profile quarterbacks like Wilson, Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray also sought fully guaranteed deals from his respective club.
“The NFLPA alleged that prior to that meeting, ‘a high-ranking executive in the League office asked an NFL owner to initiate a discussion with the other owners about not agreeing to large player contracts with fully guaranteed salaries like Watson’s,” the suit alleges, “and that this topic was discussed during the owners’ meeting.”
The belief among owners was if Watson’s contract could remain a one-off deal, rather than one that reset the market, they would not have to continue the trend.
“The alleged purpose of the agreement with the Clubs was to thwart market competition from running its course,” the suit alleges, “and to prevent them from following the precedent set by quarterback Deshaun Watson’s five-year fully guaranteed, $230 million player contract signed with the Cleveland Browns in March 2022.”
Broncos owner Greg Penner testified as part of the suit and corroborated the fact he would not give Wilson a fully guaranteed trade as Watson had received.
At the evidentiary hearing, Mr. Pcnner testified that Mr. Watson’s contract ‘was a complete outlier versus the other contracts that had been done,” the suit states, “and believed ‘that it was off market, and we weren’t going to do something in line with that [deal].”
The suit seeks damages for all the players — 594 in total — who signed partially guaranteed contracts before the 2023 season.
