3 Denver Broncos on the hot seat entering Week 18 of 2023 season

The Denver Broncos have a chance to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2016, but that does not mean the team won't make major changes in the coming offseason. The team faces off against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18, and they are also projected to be over the 2024 cap number.

They are going to have to part with some players in order to get their cap space in the green, and that could look like trades and outright releases. The Broncos have had an up and down year, beginning the season 1-5 but rattling off five wins in a row to get to 6-5. Well, since getting to 6-5, they have gone 2-3 over their last five games, which has put a dagger in the heart of their playoff chances.

They are officially eliminated, but potentially getting to 9-8 to end the year would mean they finished the season 8-3 after that 1-5 start. Just imagine if Denver would have just split their first six games...

Anyway, there are a few Broncos players who are on the hot seat as we enter the final week of the 2023 NFL Season. Who are they?

3 Denver Broncos on the hot seat entering Week 18 of 2023 season
1. Russell Wilson, QB

This one is pretty obvious. The Broncos sent Russell Wilson to the bench before their Week 17 tilt versus the Los Angeles Chargers. And even though the Broncos were missing both Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims Jr, the offense largely looked the same with Jarrett Stidham under center, and that's kind of the point.

The move to bench Wilson was likely a financial and performance-based move, no matter what the PR says from the Wilson side and the Denver side. As with most things, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, and now Wilson will have to wait and see what his status is with the Broncos beyond this year. He apparently moved his family to Denver and envisioned playing for the team for a while.

But Wilson's empty stats this year might be enough for the Broncos to go in a different direction in 2024.