Denver, CO
Denver Broncos GM: ‘Door is open’ for Russell Wilson to return in 2024
When Denver Broncos benched quarterback Russell Wilson for the final two games of the regular season, the prevailing opinion was a divorce during the offseason was the next step.
Not so fast, say the Broncos. Head coach Sean Payton, general manager George Paton and owner Greg Penner left the door open for Wilson to return in 2024 during their end-of-the-season media availability on Monday.
Payton said he met with Wilson on Monday and told reporters that a path does exist for the quarterback to return for a third season in Denver, but management is mulling over options and a final decision has not been made.
“Yeah, otherwise it would have been like ‘hey, goodbye,’” Payton told reporters. “… We’ll look at all the scenarios and try to do what’s best for the Broncos. .,. that final decision hasn’t been made.”
Payton said he told Wilson the decision-making process will not take very long.
“I told him I don’t think it’s going to be a long, drawn-out process,” Payton told reporters. “But it hasn’t been decided relative to what our plans are and that as soon as we know something that certainly he would be the first to know.”
Broncos’ general manager George Paton said the “door is open” to a reconciliation that would keep Wilson in Denver, adding, “I’ve talked to Russ. He’s open to returning.”
While the Broncos say they are considering keeping Wilson for the 2024 season, the consensus is they will release him at some point during the offseason.
Wilson’s $39 million salary in 2024 is guaranteed whether he plays for the Broncos or not. If they decide to release him, they would incur a record-breaking $85 million in dead cap charges over the next two years.
“Obviously, the financial part of it is a significant component in terms of how this works out in the future, but that’s not what will drive this decision,” Penner told reporters. “The decision will be driven on what’s in the best interests of this football team winning games.”
Some observers will question Penner’s credibility after what happened when Wilson was benched in favor of backup Jarrett Stidham in Week 17 of the regular season.
Wilson claimed the Broncos approached him midway through the season about adjusting his contract and threatened to bench him if he didn’t. He said the team came to him and broached the subject of renegotiating his contract, specifically the $37 million (his 2025 salary) he would be guaranteed to receive if he could not pass a physical on the fifth day of the new league year in March.
Wilson declined and started in the next in the next seven games before he was benched. Payton and Paton indicated there wasn’t a threat to bench Wilson and the benching was a “football decision.”
“During the bye week, I did reach out to Russ’ agent in a good faith and a creative attempt, to adjust his contract. We couldn’t get a deal done, and we moved on with our season,” Paton told reporters. “Fast-forward to Week 17, Sean makes a change at the quarterback position. This was a football decision made by Sean, what he thought was in the best interest of the team. This was completely independent of any conversations I had with the agent. Again, it was a football decision, made by Sean.
“We made a good faith attempt to adjust his contract; we handled ourselves professionally. I’ll just leave it at that.”
The fallout transformed Wilson, who wasn’t very popular in the locker room after his first season in Denver, into a sympathetic figure at the end of the second season, according to a report from espn.com’s Jeff Legwold.
There are some players who don’t believe a word coming out either Payton or Paton’s mouth and they expect Wilson will not be with the Broncos in 2024.
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Denver, CO
Denver Barkey scores first career goal as Flyers take down Oilers
Item 1 of 33 Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
[1/33]Jan 3, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers right winger Garnet Hathaway (19) skates on the ice during the pre game warm up as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Philadelphia Flyers before the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images Purchase Licensing Rights
January 3 – Denver Barkey’s first NHL tally highlighted a three-goal first period for the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat the host Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Travis Sanheim and Bobby Brink also scored in the first, while Nick Seeler and Owen Tippett each posted a goal with an assist and Sean Couturier added two helpers for the Flyers, who finished a 3-2-0 road trip. Dan Vladar made 22 saves for Philadelphia, which allowed 13 Edmonton shots on goal in the first period, but just 11 the rest of the way.
Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 15 games with his 25th goal of the season and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers, who have dropped two straight and three of four.
Philadelphia made its mark early in the first period. Tippett passed the puck into the slot for a streaking Barkey, who beat Oilers’ Calvin Pickard (24 saves) for his milestone goal just 7:16 into the contest.
Barkey’s marker essentially set the tempo, as the visitors made it 2-0 with 9:29 left in the first when Sanheim beat Pickard from the right circle.
Philadelphia then extended its lead a little over four minutes later when an Edmonton turnover led to the puck deflecting into the net off the heel of Brink’s skate off a shot from Cam York.
Vladar, meanwhile, was solid by stopping 12 shots in the first period. However, he couldn’t prevent McDavid from scoring on a breakaway, which came off a Sanheim turnover in the neutral zone, with 3:52 remaining before the first intermission.
The Oilers made it 3-2 on the power play with 10:06 remaining in the second period. With an assist from McDavid, Bouchard unloaded a successful slap shot from the left point to give Edmonton at least one goal on the man advantage in nine of the last 10 games.
Philadelphia found some breathing room with 10:51 remaining in regulation off Seeler’s wrister for his first goal of the season. Tippett added an empty-netter as the Flyers scored at least five goals for the third time in their last six.
McDavid, meanwhile, has 14 goals with 22 assists in the last 15 games.
–Field Level Media
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Denver, CO
A franchise quarterback is vital to winning division titles
You might respond to this headline with ‘and water is wet’ and I wouldn’t blame you, but I was looking over the Denver Broncos history and how often they have won a division title. In their 65 years, the Broncos have brought home 16 AFC West division titles. That’s not very many, but given their first winning season was almost 20 years into it then it doesn’t look so bad.
The other thing I noticed is that only those teams who had a franchise quarterback type player under center did they repeat often as division winners. 11 of those 16 titles were won while John Elway or Peyton Manning were quarterbacking the franchise. Craig Morton won two backed by the vaunted Orange Crush defense of the 70s, but the rest were one-off division winners like Jake Plummer and Tim Tebow. Now that latter list includes Bo Nix.
The craziest stat that I found researching this topic was that all but one Broncos team that did not win the division were one-and-done in the playoffs. The lone team that wasn’t was that 1997 Super Bowl winning squad. Every single other team that finished second or third in the division and made the playoffs did not win a game once they got there. That doesn’t have much to do with the franchise quarterback topic here, but I found this little tidbit too interesting to not share.
As for the division winners, there were plenty of one-and-done seasons there too, but all of their playoff wins sans-1997 are also there.
The question I meant to get to sooner before going off on that side quest regarding the playoff outcomes was whether or not Bo Nix joins Elway and Manning or ends up with the Plummer and Morton’s of history of pretty good but not all-time great. A few playoff wins over the next month would certainly move the needle some before adding more division titles down the road.
Denver, CO
Denver police report increase in street racing arrests and citations in 2025
DENVER — Street racing continues to pose threats to Colorado drivers, so Denver7 looked into the trends we saw throughout 2025.
Denver Police report 80 citations and arrests as of December 17 for 2025. That’s 20 more than last year, according to Doug Schepman, director of communications for the Denver Police Department (DPD).
There is one strip of road in Denver we asked Schepman about specifically, after hearing from business owners that it’s particularly troublesome.
We’re talking about the 2000 block of S. Santa Fe Drive in Denver.
Michael Gray, owner of Discount Fishing Tackle, said it’s a weekly occurrence to watch or hear cars and motorcycles zip past.
“Recently, we’ve seen the kids on the motorcycles coming by with the front wheel in the air, going just as dangerous as can be, and especially dangerous because so many other people are going so fast on this road,” Gray said.
He said he’s noticed that as more turnoffs are removed and the spacing between traffic lights gets longer, more drivers tend to use it as their personal raceway.
“It doesn’t affect us really too much, but you don’t like to have something as dangerous as that going on all the time,” he said.
Schepman said patrol districts are aware that street racing occurs along this stretch of South Santa Fe Drive, and that officers are directed to patrol the area during periods when reports are more prevalent.
He adds that the community plays a critical part in helping investigators curb this problem.
The Colorado State Patrol said it has received more than 1,700 reports from the community this year.
You can continue to report street racing here.
Denver7
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Allie Jennerjahn
Denver7’s Allie Jennerjahn covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on crime, corruption and ways to protect your family. If you’d like to get in touch with Allie, fill out the form below to send her an email.
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