MARCH 6: Although Wilson will remain a Bronco until March 13, the team will extend this free agency preview of sorts to include in-person visits with other clubs, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. An unofficial agreement could conceivably commence before free agency starts, though teams interested in Wilson likely will be interested in seeing how other QB dominoes fall before committing.
MARCH 5: The Broncos officially announced on Monday that Russell Wilson will be let go, marking an end to his disappointing stint with the team. The move will not be made until the new league year begins, but Wilson could have a new agreement in place by that point. 
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Denver has no issue with Wilson immediately negotiating with prospective teams. The outgoing veteran passer is still under contract with the Broncos (and will be until March 13), but with his fate already known the team will allow him to begin seeking out his next home. Wilson is therefore, for all intents and purposes, already a free agent.
With $39MM in compensation guaranteed for 2024 by the Broncos, an acquiring team will not be obligated to add the Super Bowl winner on a lucrative pact. Any base salary Wilson signs for will offset part of Denver’s obligations to him. Given the state of the 35-year-old’s value, though, a short-term pact at a low cost will likely be the means by which he begins the third chapter of his NFL career.
A number of teams will be in the market for a veteran passer as the offseason unfolds. Wilson will not be as in-demand as the likes of Kirk Cousins or Baker Mayfield, but he could be viewed as having higher upside than other bridge options such as Jacoby Brissett and Ryan Tannehill. While the Broncos could be in the market for an experienced signal-caller to take Wilson’s place, the top incumbent passer on the roster will likely receive the first chance to earn the starting gig.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes Jarrett Stidham is in place to take on QB1 duties, especially if Denver does not add a quarterback in the first round of April’s draft (video link). Plenty could change under center in the coming months, but Payton has thrown his support behind Stidham (who signed a two-year deal last offseason) before and after he filled in for Wilson following the latter’s benching. Resources will be limited if the Broncos aim to add a pricey free agent, of course, given the cap consequences of Wilson’s release.
On that point, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports Denver has not yet decided how to handle the move to cut Wilson. A guaranteed $22MM payment owed next week either as an option bonus or, if declined, base salary, will affect the cap charges associated with the release. The team will be hit with $35.4MM in dead money in 2024 and $49.6MM next season if the option is picked up, or cap charges of $53MM and $32MM if not. The Broncos will make a decision on how to structure Wilson’s contract while he begins the process of landing a new one.
If the alleged QB whisperer couldn’t get anything out of Russ, no one will. It’s so bad, Denver is taking a historic dead money hit just to be done with him. He’s washed.
Maybe whoever misses out on Cousins and Fields will desperately take a chance.
They’re taking the dead cap hit so that they don’t guarantee a ton of money for the season after next. He’s past his prime and not great, but he would still be an improvement for a handful of teams.
Jarrett Stidham is still the next Brady?
Stidham, a pure backup threw more balls 25+ yards in 2 games than rus the entire season.
Is Jarrett Stidham better than Jimmy Garoppolo?
I could see Jimmy G as a band-aid until the Broncos clear cap hell.
To be honest if I am a team interested in Russell, I would take Jimmy G for a test ride. It’s only a two game suspension and to be honest he was never embraced in Vegas.
Stidham has a bigger arm, Jimmy has better accuracy. The problem with Jimmy is that he can never stay healthy. Personally I’d rather roll with Darnold, who had quietly shown improvement when he played. Or take a flier and propose a trade with the commanders, who are most likely drafting a qb. A 5th rounder for Howell. Day 3 picks rarely make an impact, so why not take a flier on Howell.
Russell has lots of leverage for a short term contract with his next team. He needs to pick the team that sees him as a starter, as a potential long term QB and that is positioned to win now. For all the hater’s out there, I hope he gets it right, does well and it’s with an AFC Team.
So the secret to having lots of leverage is to be 35 and sacked more than 500 times?
No. It’s having $35M of this year’s salary paid for by Denver. A team can get him for less than $1.5M against this year’s salary cap. He gets the money from Denver, regardless who he signs up with, so his motivation is to show he can still play at an elite level in order to get a decent contract next off season.
I doubt he signs before the draft. He won’t go anywhere there’s a threat to his starting job.
He should sign for $1 with a new team to make Denver pay the full $39MM.
There’s likely no offset in his deal…
He should sign with whomever lets him start to attempt to rebuild his value
He’ll sign for the minimum and Denver will pay the rest. It’s how it works in Wilson’s other sport, baseball, too.
The NFL is different than baseball with that, and the Broncos won’t be responsible for the remainder of the salary. If a team releases a player, they stop paying the player’s salary but still owe him dead money. NFL contracts aren’t fully guaranteed, unless you’re Watson. That’s partially why NFL teams cut players so frequently. They’re really only dealing with the cap ramifications and small guaranteed portions of the money.
Russ to the Gmen and draft a wr at 6.
Vikings all the way. Reminds me of when McNabb came to Minnesota
When 2 border line HoF HC says ‘Good bye!’ in 3 years, you’re time as a starter is most likely up.
Black and Gold. Use the draft pick on the line (OL or DL) and you still have Pickett and Rudolph backing up. Solid chance of contending as long as he can gel.
I doubt Mason comes back if they get Russ. Why be the third string again
If he had his druthers, I think Rudolph would leave. The kid’s been lied to repeatedly and now he’s being thrown another line about being able to compete
Problem is, where would his market be? And where would he have a chance to compete for starting job?
With free agents, trades, cuts, it’s hard to see where his market is
Hey Mr. Unlimited,
When you don’t see an offer you like, come back up Josh in Buffalo.
or Rogers in NY
Actually, that makes more sense for him.
Backing up the 40 yr old coming off achilles is a clearer path to playing time.
The Jets should gave done something similar last year.
Wonder if he takes back-up deal if that’s all he’s offered. 1 snap away frm playing is better than not playing.
Took Carsen Wentz awhile to figure that out
Just say no Raiders , please lol
Giants, Vikings, Patriots, Falcons, Steelers, really any team with $1.21 million in cap space can offer him a job.
However Russ wants to start, so he isn’t going anywhere there is a QB competition going down. So PIT is off the table. Cousins has been looking at houses in ATL as well as looking at schools in the area for his kids (Kirk most likely going to ATL) so Falcons are off the board. Daniel Jones is still in NY so I doubt Russ wants to dive into that water. That leaves the Patriots and Vikings. Vikings have an excellent HC who knows offense and Justin Jefferson is there. The Patriots have ?????
Russ is going to MIN lol.
Don’t forget about Tampa they don’t have to bring Baker back instead of paying him 25-35m and the money they save on him they can upgrade at TE OL and CB
But as a pats fan I want him to come here even though I know it won’t
I didn’t include Tampa intentionally. I have to imagine Mayfield isn’t going anywhere else, he is probably tired of bouncing around the league. He found a home in Tampa and they embrace him, why would he want to leave. Plus Mike Evans would not have signed his deal if he didn’t already know who was throwing him the ball next year. I could be wrong.
Broncos filthy rich ownership needs to save some money on what they owe. They’re hoping a little bidding war happens and they can save some cash. For an ownership group that’s gotten almost nothing but praise…they’re the ones that wanted to lock up Russ long term, 2 years and 2 ticket price increases, now showing how much of cheapasses they are. This is what business owners running pro sports teams looks like.