Next steps for Broncos and Sean Payton with Russell Wilson - ESPN

ON A CRISP Dec. 27 morning at the Broncos' suburban Denver complex, players filed into what they thought was a standard Wednesday team meeting. Instead, coach Sean Payton had a stunning announcement for the group: Russell Wilson was no longer the starting quarterback.

«It was a surprise to everybody in the locker room. He just told us out of nowhere,» wide receiver Jerry Jeudy said.

This wasn't a depth chart shuffle 10 plays into a game. This was a foundational decision that will carry enormous financial weight, have draft implications and may upend the Broncos' short-term ability to compete.

The construction of Wilson's contract, a contract that team owner/CEO Greg Penner once heralded in the same room in which Payton announced Wilson's benching, will test every part of the Broncos' ability to move forward. Especially if, as expected, the Broncos release Wilson before the new league year begins in March.

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But Payton has said those discussions have yet to happen.

"[In terms of] the future, we haven't had a sit-down,'' Payton said in the days following the announcement. «I'm sure we will. Greg and I and [general manager George Paton] speak frequently, but this is about now.''

The short-term future is certain: Denver missed the playoffs for the eighth straight year. If Wilson is released, the Broncos will take on the biggest dead-money hit in the history of the NFL's salary cap and head into April's draft with six picks and, once again, a question about who will be their next quarterback.

»Look, they're in a little bit of a box," a rival general manager told ESPN. «We've all been there