There is no easier target in the NFL than Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson right now, to the point that one teammate is crying foul over even a lukewarm rumor about his professional life.
Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy wasn’t happy about seeing an aggregated report that Wilson has an office and private parking space at the team facility, taken from a rant by Shannon Sharpe on Fox Sports’ “Undisputed.” Specifically, Sharpe took issue with Wilson’s supposed me-first attitude and said the team’s next head coach should take away his office and parking space.
Jeudy reacted in an odd way, though. He began by criticizing “false statements” about Wilson — likely that the quarterback “ticked a lot of people off” with his attitude, per Sharpe — and in the very next sentence conceded Wilson does, indeed, have an office.
Seriously, just read this thing:
To be fair to Wilson and Jeudy, the idea of Wilson having his own office and parking space should be far from the Broncos’ biggest concern right now. We don’t know how Wilson uses that office, or how often, or if he’s the only quarterback out there who has one.
However, it’s also quite possible that while Jeudy has loved having Wilson as a teammate, other Broncos players haven’t been as enthusiastic. For a guy with past grumblings by teammates about receiving special treatment, him having an office and parking space fits neatly into an unflattering narrative that has hit overdrive this season.
Office or no, the Broncos are definitely going to need to figure out how they proceed with Wilson. The team fired head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday after a season that went from disappointing to downright embarrassing very quickly, but removing Wilson will be much more difficult over the next several years.
The veteran signed a contract extension last offseason that tied him to the Broncos for the next seven seasons, with a total compensation of $296 million and $161 million in new guaranteed money. The earliest the team could realistically cut him loose is 2025, when he carries $49.6 million in dead money vs. a $55.4 million cap hit, per Spotrac.
At that point, the Broncos might want Wilson to stay in his office as much as he wants.