ENGLEWOOD, Colo — There’s been so much pent-up passion among Broncos Country letter writers, it’s high time we release the Broncos Mailbag.
Here are 9 letters to read, with the Russell Wilson saga at the forefront of the Broncos’ offseason:
I nearly wrote you this a few minutes after I read your post about the Broncos free agent options at quarterback. That’s when I opened up a different online sports site and saw that Sam Howell was traded to the Seahawks.
I don’t see where Broncos fans will be excited about any of the remaining options. Once again, Sean Payton is going to be held totally responsible for what happens in 2024.
My money is now on Jarrett Stidham being the Day One starting quarterback for the Broncos.
— Harold Reutter
P.S.
I also believe the odds have increased the Broncos will trade someone like Patrick Surtain II to get the quarterback they want in the draft.
Harold – Last I counted, 24 quarterbacks came off the market, either via re-sign, free-agent sign elsewhere, or trade, in the past two weeks. Not one landed with the Broncos.
So even if the Broncos add a Zach Wilson, Bailey Zappe, Trey Lance or Malik Willis via trade or Ryan Tannehill, Kyle Allen or Trevor Siemian by way of free agency, Stidham is currently the only way to bet for the season-opening starter.
I don’t think Sean Payton has a problem accepting responsibility for whatever happens with the 2024 Broncos.
As for Surtain’s trade value, keep in mind it might be a little less now that he’s likely going to have a $19.802 million option exercised for 2025. A player worth a first- and a second-round draft pick on his own merits might fall to say, a third and fourth once he makes big money.
Relating to Wilson’s $242 million contract, do the Broncos owe him money beyond 2025? Is the dead cap done after 2025?
— Evan Lukassen
Evan – The Broncos won’t owe Wilson any money beyond the $37.79 million they will pay him this year. There is a two-year dead cap charge of $85 million spread over 2024 and 2025. The Broncos decided to take a $53 million dead cap charge this year – 21% of the Broncos’ salary cap of $255.4 million – and $32 million in 2025. But cash out of Greg Penner’s pocket, the Wilson bill will be paid in full after this season.
That $53 million dead-cap hit explains why the Broncos, for the first time in decades, seemingly had more good players leave during the offseason (Wilson, Justin Simmons, Lloyd Cushenberry III, Jerry Jeudy, Josey Jewell) than came in (Brandon Jones, Malcolm Roach, Cody Barton, Matt Peart).
This takes some getting used to but given the Broncos currently have seven consecutive losing seasons, a rebuild makes sense.
Mike, the scouting combine is in the books, who’s your prediction on QB that Sean Payton is going to draft?
— Todd Allerdings
Todd – There was a lot of buzz during the NFL Combine three weeks ago that J.J. McCarthy was Payton’s guy. Bo Nix is a possibility. My guess is Michael Penix’s injury history would be a concern for the first round – I can see a team trading back into the final pick of the first round to get him.
The Broncos not having a second-round selection (Payton trade with New Orleans) won’t help them move up from No. 12. Losing three first-round picks the previous two years from the Wilson and Payton trades should work against the team trading away their future, 2025 first-round draft pick, as the feeling better be, enough!
I’ve gone with Bo Nix in two mock drafts put together by Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. But I must warn you, Todd, I’m better at analyzing what did happen than predicting what’s going to happen. See Kentucky, which I had going to the championship game in multiple brackets.
I am guessing they are waiting until the draft to see how to handle Quarterback?
I have been disappointed in how they have handled free agency. I get they are being prudent and this is going to be a bad upcoming season, but there are still some holes to fill on this roster even to field a professional team.
This is the reason I thought Denver and Wilson should have worked it out for another year. They still could have drafted a quarterback, but would not have to go to Plan Z type.
— Jon Cornbleet
Jon – Last week’s storm was massive but aside from a sore lower back for a couple days, we came out fine. Gained a pound or two as my wife Becky came through with the best pot of chili I’ve ever had. And had again. And had some more.
Had Wilson not had a guarantee trigger for $37 million in 2025, he may have remained with the Broncos in 2024. May have.
The biggest reason why Wilson is not with the Broncos is Payton didn’t feel comfortable with him as his quarterback. Whether it was about processing, reading, watching the rush, leadership style, personality, I don’t know. Payton hasn’t said anything negative about Wilson. He scolded him on the sidelines a time or three. But he has said positive things about the quarterback publicly.
And because Payton decided Wilson wasn’t his guy, the Broncos couldn’t make him live with the situation for two more years. One year? Maybe. But given everything that’s happened, can you imagine two more years of Russ drama in Denver?
But, yes, the financial consequences from Wilson’s release hurt the Broncos deeply for the 2024 season. This has arguably been the Broncos’ most uninspiring free-agent period in my 20 years of covering the team.
But the Wilson fallout was unprecedented in so many ways. In the Book of Broncos, Wilson may well be the saddest chapter. I say that while acknowledging he is a relentlessly positive-minded person, who was always cordial. And he did have some remarkable off-script magic about him in the fourth quarter.
A shame is what it is. Whatever the reason, whoever is to blame – and there are many – the whole Wilson-Broncos’ chapter was just a shame.
Mike, as a Steeler fan, this (Wilson signing) doesn't thrill me. The only redeeming feature is that he will cost the Steelers very little cap money. It's a heckuva lot less than Mitch Trubisky cost them and that guy was a complete waste.
I've always liked Russell Wilson and will pull for him, but my son and I were hoping they would trade for Justin Fields.
— James Burnell
James – The best quarterback I saw in person all season was Justin Fields through all but 14 seconds of the third quarter in the Broncos’ week 4 comeback win at Soldier Field. Or at least tied for the best with the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa’s three quarters in week 3 in Miami.
With 14 seconds left in the third against the Broncos, Fields was 23 of 24 for 285 yards, 4 touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 155.7 passer rating (158.3 is perfect).
Tagovailoa, who was removed after one fourth-quarter play (for a 10-yard touchdown pass) in Miami’s 70-20 rout of the Broncos, was 23 of 26 for 309 yards, 4 touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 155.8 rating.
Both Fields and Tua had perfect 158.3 ratings at halftime in those games.
But Fields also made a huge game-losing mistake in the fourth quarter against the Broncos, fumbling the ball away on a sack by Nik Bonitto with the fumble returned for a momentum-changing touchdown by Jonathon Cooper.
Talented as Fields is, he holds on to the ball too long and is turnover prone, more so with fumbles than interceptions.
It’s obvious the Broncos weren’t in Fields trade talks because he went for a sixth-round pick in next year’s draft. The Broncos have three, fifth-round picks and two, sixth-round picks this year so they all they had to do was make their lowest offer possible and they would have outbid the Steelers.
Let me see if I understand this. When the Broncos play Pittsburgh this season, they'll be paying the Pittsburgh QB to try to beat them. That's just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I know it's 'the system,' but it's crazy. Like Channel 9 would pay you to work at Channel 4. Or my company's CEO would pay me to work at a competitor. Right.
— Dennis DeJulio
Dennis — Who’s better looking, me or Rod Mackey? (You thought I was going to say someone else, didn’t you?)
Since Broncos fans have no voice I’m hoping you will be my voice.
Couple questions, How is it that GM George Paton still has a job? Seems to me he put us in this hole.
Former Bronco cheerleader 📣
Former Bronco cheerleader – I’ve received five or six e-mails from Broncos fans wondering about Paton’s job status. There are a few reasons why he is still the Broncos’ general manager. Let me start with the biggest: The Broncos just improved by three wins, from 5-12 in 2022 to 8-9 in 2023. That’s a significant improvement if not enough of one.
Secondly, Broncos owner Greg Penner likes the way Paton works with head coach Sean Payton. And the way Paton works with Penner.
Penner also knows mistakes have been made. But they were made before Penner and Payton joined Paton to head the Broncos’ football operations department.
George Paton is a good talent evaluator. His first draft with the Broncos in 2021 received an award as the NFL’s best.
His next two drafts didn’t have first-round draft picks because of the Wilson trade and he had to deal around to get a final pick in the second round both years. Starting out in 64th place is no way to have a great draft, but Bonitto and Marvin Mims Jr. were nice selections and there’s a bunch of contributors (Damarri Mathis, Riley Moss, Drew Sanders, Matt Henningsen, Luke Wattenberg, JL Skinner, Alex Forsyth) who are still works in progress.
The hamstring issues with tight end Greg Dulcich and gambling suspension to Eyioma Uwazurike were unforeseen blows.
No doubt, the Wilson trade, Nathaniel Hackett coaching hire and the Wilson contract extension are on Paton. Those were crippling mistakes. But there is much to the GM job and Paton has done well enough outside those miscues for Penner to allow him to finish the job – especially when the team is coming off a marked improvement in 2023.
Why did the Broncos release Justin Simmons instead of trading for a draft pick? Is there some cap space implication with a trade?
— Dave Hamilton
Dave – They did try to trade him but that would have meant his new team would have taken on his $14.5 million salary for 2024. This was an offseason when several prominent safeties with big salaries were released, flooding the market. The Eagles released Kevin Byard and his $14.1 million payout. He wound up signing a two-year deal with the Bears worth $7.5 million per year.
Eddie Jackson, Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and Micah Hyde are among the well-decorated safeties who like Simmons have yet to sign with a new team.
I thought Simmons would have had a two- or three-year contract, at about $8 million to $10 million a year by now. But it’s been a tough safety market this year.
Reading your Wilson story will give most Bronco fans plenty of pause as you related how much the Broncos gave up in money and draft choices. But at the same time Wilson had great stats to back up what the Broncos gave up.
You were masterful at sarcasm:
11 wins for $124 million.
Good work if you can find it.
Contract extension before he even played a down.
Jab, jab, jab. Beautifully done.
Regardless, the Orange and Blue are indeed in trouble at the QB spot.
— Golden Pen
Pen – The Broncos’ Great QB Plan has yet to be revealed. I would suggest Sean Payton likes Jarrett Stidham, who does seem to have the support of the locker room. Can the Broncos win with Stidham as their No. 1 quarterback in 2024 as they groom their new rookie quarterback? No matter how many positive characteristics Stidham has, four starts through five NFL seasons requires a leap of faith.
It's March 23 today. Let’s see what the quarterback position looks like Thursday night, April 25, after the NFL Draft’s first round. The Broncos have the No. 12 overall pick. It would be a surprise if they don’t utilize that pick in some fashion to select a quarterback.
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