Colorado’s Englewood (AP) — Russell Wilson stated over the weekend that he intends to return to the Denver Broncos in 2024. His head coach and general manager are scheduled to speak to media at the NFL scouting combine on Tuesday, and they will presumably discuss his employment situation as well.
In the next five years, Wilson said he still wants to win two Super Bowls.
“Yes, I would like to return to Denver. I’m hoping I get to return. To be honest with you, I would really want to return. On Sunday night, during the live broadcast of former NFL receiver Brandon Marshall’s “I Am Athlete” podcast, Wilson added, “I have incredible teammates.”
Wilson also persisted in his claim—which the organization has labeled as inaccurate—that the Broncos threatened to bench him in the middle of the season if he didn’t modify an injury guarantee in his contract.
After signing a contract for about $245 million a year earlier, Wilson chose not to remove the injury guarantee. He went on to start seven more games before coach Sean Payton benched him in favor of Jarrett Stidham for the last two games.
After two largely dismal seasons, the Broncos will need to let rid of Wilson by March 17, when his $37 million base contract for 2025 becomes fully guaranteed.
Regardless of whether he plays for the Broncos or not, Wilson is owed a salary of $39 million for the upcoming season. In addition, if they split ways, they would have to pay a $85 million dead cap hit, which is more than twice as much as the record $40 million or more that the Falcons had to pay in dead cap penalties when quarterback Matt Ryan left Atlanta last season.
The Broncos have stated that an expensive divorce isn’t necessarily impending, even if they benched Wilson following a successful 2023 season in which he threw for 26 touchdowns and eight picks. During the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, Payton stated on radio row multiple times that Wilson’s comeback was a possibility and that no decision had been made on the quarterback’s status.
Wilson stated that he was still a Bronco and that he may play for Payton once more. He added that he hadn’t considered going anywhere else. During the over ninety-minute podcast, Marshall made light of the current rumor that Wilson and his spouse, Ciara, are open to displaying their $25 million Cherry Hills property to prospective buyers by asking Wilson where he would live if he decided to stay in Denver.
Wilson stated, “It’s not on the market right now.”
Wilson and the Broncos, who finished 8-9 the previous season and continued their eight-season postseason drought, may, nevertheless, draw even. Denver has been without a playoffs appearance since 2010, with the exception of the New York Jets.
“People believe that I have left. Perhaps I am, but I would really like to return in any case. There are more Super Bowls I want to win. In his first remarks to the public since December, Wilson declared, “I love the city and everything else.” “But you want to be where people want you too.”
In the podcast, Wilson went over the bye week discussions about eliminating the injury guarantee from his contract that he had with his agent, Mark Rodgers, general manager George Paton, and vice president of football administration Rich Hurtado.
Wilson said to Marshall, “I didn’t want to set a precedent for players to remove their injury guarantees.” “I was not going to do that in any way.”
When Wilson returned to Broncos headquarters following the bye week, he recalled not knowing if he was still the starting quarterback.
Be the first to comment