Barring a change of plans in the Denver Broncos’ front office, nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson will hit the free agent market before the 2024 league new year.
The Broncos announced on Wednesday that they were benching Wilson for their final two regular season games. Wilson confirmed to reporters on Friday that they were benching him because of his refusal to adjust the injury guarantee in his contracts; the team would owe Wilson $37 million in guaranteed money for 2025 if he suffered an injury.
On “SportsCenter”, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported (h/t Nick Schultz of On3.com), that the Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are among the clubs who could go after the future Hall of Famer if the Broncos cut him:
“Russell Wilson, probably going to be a free agent after this season. He’s got a balloon payment of $37 million from Denver, guaranteed money coming to him. So they’ll release him before the new league year. Should have a market. I’ve talked to teams who believe like Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New England, a lot of teams could use a good veteran who still is playing relatively well this year.”
The Patriots are most certainly going to move on from Mac Jones following a second straight disappointing season. The Falcons have to upgrade at QB as well, because the Desmond Ridder-Taylor Heinicke tandem haven’t cut it.
The Steelers will have to decide if they want to pull the plug on 2022 first-rounder Kenny Pickett or give him one more year to prove himself. If it’s the former, then Wilson definitely makes sense as a free agent target.
