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The Denver Broncos made their decision to move on from quarterback Russell Wilson on March 4 and he has found a new home.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Wilson will be signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wilson’s deal with Pittsburgh will be a one-year deal worth $1.2 million which means the Broncos are going to be paying $37.7 million of his contract this season.
The Super Bowl winning quarterback will compete with former 2022 first-round quarterback, Kenny Pickett.
Schefter also mentioned that Wilson spent over six hours meeting with Steelers officials on March 8 which included time with head coach Mike Tomlin and newly hired offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith.
Wilson also met with the New York Giants as they look to improve their quarterback room, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported that if Wilson didn’t land with the Steelers, he was open to signing with the Las Vegas Raiders or New England Patriots.
The Broncos will host the Steelers in the 2024 season.
Russell Wilson’s Time in Denver
In 2022, Wilson was traded to the Broncos along with a fourth-round pick in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, and defensive lineman Shelby Harris.
Before the 2022 season started, the Broncos gave a Wilson a five-year contract extension worth $245 million despite having two years remaining on his previous deal from the Seattle Seahawks.
While there was hope that the Broncos finally found their savior at quarterback and was going to end their streak of looking for their franchise guy since Peyton Manning, things didn’t go as planned.
In Wilson’s first season in Denver, he had the worst statistical season of his NFL career.
During the 2022 season, Wilson threw a career-low 16 touchdown passes and had 11 interceptions in just 15 games. Wilson’s completion percentage of 60.5 percent was also the lowest in his career along with a passer rating of 84.4.
The Broncos would go 4-11 in that first season with Wilson as the starting quarterback and would fire head coach Nathaniel Hackett just 15 games into the regular season.
Denver then went out and hired offensive-minded head coach, Sean Payton, to fix Wilson’s struggles.
Things still didn’t go as planned.
The Broncos would go 7-8 under Wilson starting games in 2023 and was benched by Payton after Denver’s Week 16’s loss to the New England Patriots. Denver started Jarrett Stidham for the final two games and they finished 1-1 in those games.
In his final season, Wilson completed 66.4 percent of his passes for 3,070 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Broncos Looking to Add a Quarterback
13 different quarterbacks have started a game for the Broncos since Manning rode off into the sunset after the 2016 Super Bowl.
Now the Broncos will look for quarterback No. 14.
Denver could add a veteran quarterback in free agency to add to the room with Stidham.
Mike Klis of 9News, has named Sam Darnold, Jacoby Brissett, Sam Howell, and Ryan Tannehill as potential suitors for the Broncos.
While the Broncos have been linked to Kirk Cousins, it seems likely that he’ll end up re-signing with the Minnesota Vikings or moving on to the Atlanta Falcons.
Other veteran options could be Mason Rudolph or even Jimmy Garoppolo.
If the Broncos have decided that they are in love with a quarterback in the draft, they can target one of those gun-singers in the first-round or add a mid-round quarterback to learn and develop behind a veteran.
Safe to say that the future of the Broncos finding the most important position in sports sits in the hands of their head coach.
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