Payton didn’t fix Russell Wilson. Nor did he seem too intent on trying, based on the Broncos asking Wilson last October to change an injury guarantee in his contract or be benched the rest of the season. That was unprofessional from the Broncos, and no matter how much Payton insisted he knew nothing about that ultimatum, nobody with common sense should believe it. Payton didn’t even last two months into one regular season with Wilson (which, statistically, wasn’t all that bad for Wilson), which indicates he was never all that into making it work.

That led the Broncos right into an absurd decision, eating an $85 million dead cap hit to cut Wilson. It’ll be $53 million this year and $32 million next year, according to Spotrac. The total hit more than doubled the record for largest dead cap hit in NFL history, which was Matt Ryan and $40.53 million.

The Broncos’ roster was already thin due to draft picks surrendered in trades for Wilson and Payton. They had little cap flexibility and didn’t add much in free agency, which had to annoy the notoriously impulsive Payton. Typically, rebuilds in the NFL can be accomplished in a couple years, if you hit enough home runs. When you hear that a team set itself back a decade with a certain decision, that’s false. But in the Broncos’ case, the fallout from the Wilson debacle will probably linger far beyond this season.