The Denver Broncos were clearly willing to dismiss Russell Wilson and take on an NFL record dead money hit of $85 million over the next two years for a number of reasons. In the end, Wilson’s dismissal was mostly due to the Denver Broncos offense’s inability to establish any kind of consistency throughout the previous two seasons.
This offseason, Sean Payton has stressed several times how crucial it is for quarterbacks to avoid taking unwarranted sacks. When asked earlier in the offseason what qualities they would most like to see in their next quarterback, he said that the ability to avoid taking unnecessary sacks was at the top of the list.
It’s fitting, then, that he ended up with Bo Nix, who was barely sacked at all over the last two years at Oregon. Payton was gushing over that quality of his after Saturday’s training camp practice:
With the Denver Broncos, Wilson was sacked a staggering 100 times in 30 games. Although it was well known that Russ had taken a lot of sacks during his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, Sean Payton was clearly very bothered by this.
Payton deserves credit for not being a smoke show. According to ESPN, the Denver Broncos’ pass block win percentage in 2024 placed them eighth in the entire NFL. Wilson was sacked 45 times last season, according to Pro Football Focus, which also attributed the Broncos’ offensive line’s 16 sack total on Wilson. Speaking from personal experience from the previous season, Payton thinks that sacks are more of an offense line issue than a reflection on the quarterback.
Wilson has undoubtedly had remarkable success for himself during his NFL career.
