4 contract decisions that will pay off for the Denver Broncos

Cutting Russell Wilson

The decision to cut Russell Wilson was the right move. I advocated for him to not be cut after the 2022 NFL Season, but felt like moving on after 2023 was the way Denver needed to end this disaster of an era. Basically, after the 2025 NFL Season, Wilson's contract will be totally off the books for the Broncos.

they owe him about $40 million this year, but will not owe him anything in 2025, and the dead cap charge they will incur on their 2025 cap goes down to $32 million. So, in 2025, the only thing left of Wilson's contract is the $32 million dead cap hit, and that should not impact the Broncos cap situation too much.

Moving on from Wilson and immediately bringing in a rookie quarterback was just what this franchise needed. The move to cut the veteran quarterback seems to have been unpopular among a section of the NFL fanbase, but who cares?

Potential extension for Garett Bolles

The Denver Broncos only have Garett Bolles under contract through the 2024 NFL Season, so he could hit the free agent market in 2025, but allowing this to happen would be a huge mistake. It's hard enough to find average tackle play in the NFL, but Bolles is one of the 15-best tackles in the entire NFL, and he's shown no signs of slowing down.

So what am I missing here? What reason is there for Denver to let Bolles hit the FA market? The team doesn't need to backup a money truck to get Bolles under contract for another two seasons after 2024, but they do need to pay him the money he has earned.

Bolles was a liability until the tail-end of the 2019 NFL Season, when something started to click. He then turned into one of the best tackles in the NFL in 2020, which earned him the extension that is set to expire after the 2024 NFL Season. A modest extension that goes through the 2026 NFL Season could be a perfect contract for Denver.

Garett Bolles is also the last tackle they took in the NFL Draft, so they do need to begin bringing in some legitimate, developmental tackle options as well. In the meantime, extending Garett Bolles is a move that needs to happen.