If the Broncos do end up biting the bullet and releasing Russell Wilson, his next NFL team might be able to sign him for relative peanuts.
The 35-year-old quarterback may be willing to sign a minimum contract in NFL free agency, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Sunday on “SportsCenter.”
“Everybody I’ve talked to around the league expects the Denver Broncos at some point around the new league year in the next few weeks to rip the Band-Aid off and release Russell Wilson even though they owe him $39 million in guaranteed money,” Fowler said, according to Bleacher Report.
“But they can start new, he can go sign somewhere else. The feeling is he’ll sign for considerably less, maybe even the league minimum, because he’s got all that money in hand guaranteed. And so, he’s going to have options. The feeling I get from talking to teams and scouts is that he’s still an NFL starter, there will be a job somewhere for him.”
Denver would have to eat $85 million in dead money for releasing Wilson, but if they don’t cut him by March 17, they owe him $37 million for the 2025 season.
Wilson’s deal does contains offset language, so a bigger contract from another team would lessen the financial burden on the Broncos.
Though Wilson is coming off two tumultuous years with the Broncos, he’d likely command a decent payday on the open market if he were to seek more than a minimum deal.
Wilson struggled in his first season in Denver in 2022 after arriving from the Seahawks in a trade, setting career-lows in completion percentage (60.5) and touchdowns (16) as first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett got fired after 15 games.
Wilson threw for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 15 games during the 2023 season before being benched for the Broncos final two games of the season by new head coach Sean Payton.
The Broncos went 7-8 in games Wilson started.