Getty Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson.
Entering the 2024 offseason, it appears that the Denver Broncos are going to be looking for another quarterback once again, with Russell Wilson having possibly thrown his final pass in a Broncos uniform.
According to former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, Wilson is expected to be playing for an AFC team in 2024.
“We got to work on the Steelers now. A little birdie told me, and I said this many shows ago, Russell Wilson’s coming on over to the Steelers,” Johnson said on the “Night Cap” podcast.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are certainly in the quarterback market after they played three different quarterbacks during the 2023 season. Pittsburgh also released Mitchell Trubisky on February 12.
The Broncos benched Wilson for the final two games of the regular season for Jarrett Stidham after head coach Sean Payton mentioned that he wanted a “spark” to the offense.
During 2024 Super Bowl week on February 9, Payton made his rounds at radio row explaining that the Broncos had not decided on whether they wanted to keep Wilson or not.
Jim Rome asked Payton if he sees Wilson starting for him next season.
“That’s a possibility.”
Payton joined Kay Adams on her show “Up and Adams” and broke down where he’s at with his staff on finding the right quarterback for the 2024 season.
“The quarterback position, are we going to be able to find it in the draft, are we going to find it in free agency, or is it in the building? I think that decision is going to come quicker than later relative to Russell Wilson.”
Currently, the Broncos are staring at an $85 million dead cap hit if they release Wilson early in 2024, but they can lower that cap hit as well.
If the Broncos wait to release Wilson after June 1, that would divide the dead money over the 2024 ($35.4 million) and 2025 seasons ($49.6 million), per NFL Network’s James Palmer.
Russell Wilson’s Denver House Is on the Market
Despite all the reports and rumors out there surrounding Wilson and the Broncos, there’s one big detail that suggests that Wilson’s time in Denver is coming to an end.
According to Thomas Gounley of Business Den, Wilson and his wife Ciara are accepting offers for their mansion in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado.
When Wilson bought the house back in 2022, it was the most expensive house ever sold in the Denver area at $25 million.
The 20,000-square-foot home sits on five acres of land and has just four bedrooms, with a total of 12 bathrooms. There’s also a 2,500-square-foot indoor swimming pool and a basketball court.
Russell Wilson’s Career in Denver
After years of struggling to find a quarterback through the draft and free agency, Broncos general manager George Paton decided to make one of the biggest trades in NFL history.
Wilson was ready to leave the Seattle Seahawks and was willing to accept a trade to Denver after the Broncos were connected in trading for Aaron Rodgers for nearly two years.
The Broncos sent two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, Drew Lock, Noah Fant, and Shelby Harris in exchange for Wilson and a fourth-round pick.
Wilson was teaming up with first-time head coach Nathaniel Hackett to run the West Coast offense that helped Rodgers earn two MVP awards.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned for Wilson and the Broncos in 2022.
Wilson had the worst season of his career by completing a career-low 60.5% of his passes and just 16 touchdowns. The veteran gun-slinger led his team to a 4-11 overall record and the Broncos missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
After firing Hackett with two games left in the season, the Broncos went into the offseason to hire Payton to fix Wilson in 2023.
Under Payton, Wilson’s numbers did go up, but the Broncos failed to make the postseason once again. Denver went 7-8 with Wilson as the starting quarterback.
Wilson threw for 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns and just 8 interceptions. Despite completing 66.4% of his passes, Wilson led the Broncos to their first win over the Kansas City Chiefs since 2015.
Despite wanting to bring a fourth Lombardi Trophy to the Denver franchise, Wilson might have to rejuvenate his career in Pittsburgh.