Earlier in the week, news broke that the Denver Broncos were benching veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, who is reportedly expecting to be cut by the team in March. The decision comes just one year after he agreed to a five-year contract extension worth a reported $245 million and while the team is still alive in the quest to qualify for the NFL postseason, although their chances are rather slim.
NFL on FOX analyst and Denver Sports 104.3 radio host Mark Schlereth played for the team for six seasons where he won two Super Bowl championships in the process. He recently joined Colin Cowherd on The Herd to discuss what was going on when the news broke, taking place live on the air towards the end of their morning show, Schlereth and Evans.
“Two minutes before I was like, ‘Based on the contract situation and based on the production versus what he costs, there’s no way you can go forward with Russell Wilson being your quarterback next year,’” Schlereth recalled. “It was interesting because you can sit there and talk about all the things he has done and all the things he’s done in the past, but right now what you’re paying him versus the production that you’re getting – those two things don’t match up; they don’t align.”
Mark Schlereth continued by outlining how the conversation on Wilson was the primary conversation during that segment of the program. Although the team is contextualizing the move as a football decision, it could ultimately end up saving them $37 million.
Wilson’s contract extension begins next season and it contains significant penalties related to dead money should the organization decide to move on from the quarterback. Jarred Stidham will be starting at the position for the team for Sunday’s New Year’s Eve tilt against the Los Angeles Chargers set to kick off at 4:25 p.m. EST/1:25 p.m. PST.
“Interestingly enough, then the news breaks,” Schlereth said, “and that’s one of those things as you and I talk about; man that’s Manna from Heaven right there; that’s radio gold.”
