ORLANDO, Fla. — About the only place where the Denver Broncos seem to have it better than other teams is with their ownership group that’s demonstrated it will spare no financial resources to bettering the team.
But even the deep-pocketed Walton-Penner group has been forced to limit its player spending this year because of The Great Russell Wilson Dead-Cap Saga.
The $53 million in Wilson dead-cap expenditure is not limited to salary cap arithmetic. It affected the Broncos cold-hard cash outlay, too.
With all but outgoing safety Justin Simmons pretty much finished with free agency, the numbers are in as all teams starting Monday will focus their attention on preparing for the NFL Draft that will be held April 25-27. And to no surprise, the Broncos spent far fewer dollars on incoming players this offseason than what their departing players were paid.
“We embrace the challenge,’’ Broncos’ general George Paton told 9NEWS this week at the NFL owners’ meetings. “We want to build and we want to build the right way for sustainable success. Other teams have been through this and won. We’ve studied those teams and we plan on following suit.”
The Broncos have added five players (Brandon Jones, Josh Reynolds, Malcolm Roach, Cody Barton and Matt Peart) and re-signed five players (Wil Lutz, Adam Trautman, Michael Burton, Justin Strnad and Lil’Jordan Humphrey) during the recent free-agent period. Those 10 players combined for $17.89 million worth of signing bonuses.
That’s less than what the departing Lloyd Cushenberry III received all by himself. The center received a $18.1 million signing bonus from the Tennessee Titans.
In all, the 10 players the Broncos brought in or retained will make $32.37 million in 2024. Cushenberry and receiver Jerry Jeudy, who was traded away to Cleveland, will make a combined $39 million this season.
The reason behind the Broncos’ distorted ledger sheet, you may have heard, is the $37.79 million of Wilson’s $39 million salary the Broncos decided to pay this year for the quarterback to go away.
“We’ve got to make some tough decisions that enable us to be successful not just in the future, but I think it will actually help us for this coming season as well,’’ said Greg Penner, the Broncos’ controlling owner and CEO. “Our goal is to build on the improvements we had last year and every day we’re going to make decisions that are going to put us in a better place to win. There’s no one more competitive than Sean (Payton, the Broncos’ head coach) and passionate and he and I, everybody in the organization, wants to win this season.”
The money papers say the Broncos did far more subtracting than adding this offseason. Addition by subtraction? Even if the Broncos would never state that adage out loud, their actions scream out loud that with at least one player, they believe it to be true.
Wilson is now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who only had to pay the minimum salary offset to sign him.
Broncos incoming/re-signed (2024 season)
Player, Pos. ………………...…... Signing bonus … 2024 payout
Brandon Jones, S …………....... $5.5 million …...… $7 million
Wil Lutz, K …………..…..……....... $3.3 million …….. $4.51 million
Adam Trautman, TE …........… $3 million ……...… $4.5 million
Josh Reynolds, WR ………...... $2 million ……..…. $4.5 million
Malcolm Roach, DL ……......… $2.5 million …...… $4.25 million
Cody Barton, ILB …………........ $1 million ………... $2.5 million
Michael Burton, FB ….....…..... $167,500 ….....…. $1.38 million
Justin Strnad, ILB …....………… $250,000 ……...… $1.31 million
Matt Peart, OT ....……………….. $167,500 ……...… $1.29 million
Lil’Jordan Humphrey, WR … $0 ……………......….. $1.13 million
Total ……………………………. $17.89 million ….... $32.37 million
Russell Wilson, QB ………… $0 ………………..…. $37.79 million
Total II ………………………….. $17.89 million ..… $70.16 million
Outgoing (2024)
Player, Pos. ………………...… Sign bonus … 2024 payout
Lloyd Cushenberry, C …….. $18.1 million … $20 million
*Jerry Jeudy, WR ….………… $6.01 million … $19 million
Josey Jewell, ILB …………….. $7 million .…….. $8.15 million
**Justin Simmons, S ………. $XXX …………..… $XXX
**Jonathan Harris, DL …….. $300,000 …..… $1.79 million
**Chris Manhertz, TE ……… $117,500 ….... $1.38 million
**Russell Wilson, QB ……… $0 ………………… $1.21 million
Total …………………………… $31.53 million … $51.53 million
*Jeudy was traded to the Cleveland Browns
**Simmons, Harris, Manhertz and Wilson were released into free agency. Cushenberry and Jewell had their contracts expire and became free agents. Simmons has yet to sign with his new team.
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