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Jeremy Fowler, senior NFL national reporter
Russell Wilson’s Hall of Fame trek took a Mile High detour over the past two years with the Denver Broncos, casting a pall over the 35-year-old’s NFL future.
But he might get what he’s never had in 12 seasons: The chance to become an NFL free agent.
Wilson’s five-year, $242.6 million contract — which he signed before the 2022 season and runs through 2028 — has hung over the Broncos franchise, and both parties appear headed toward a boiling point.
Week 17 set the stage: Broncos coach Sean Payton benched Wilson for Jarrett Stidham, and Wilson told reporters that the team approached him earlier in the year about his $37 million injury guarantee (his 2025 salary) that would trigger if he could not pass a physical by the fifth day of the 2024 new league year. Sources say the Broncos asked Wilson to defer the guarantee by one year.
Wilson also told reporters that the Broncos threatened to bench him for the rest of the season if he declined. He did, then notified the NFLPA, which took a grievance to the NFL management council.
With $39 million already guaranteed for 2024 whether Wilson is on the team or not, the Broncos have been forced to look at the big-picture ramifications of the deal — and Wilson’s place in that picture.
That $37 million of 2025 money becomes guaranteed in full on March 17, leaving Denver with a decision on whether to cut Wilson, absorbing an enormous dead cap hit but escaping the contract — eventually.
They could always ask Wilson to return for next season, but most around the league agree that’s unlikely. An outright release gives Wilson the chance to sign wherever he wants, deepening the intrigue for an already star-studded free agency class.
ESPN spoke to several league executives and sources about the Wilson dynamic in Denver, where both sides go from here, and where Wilson might end up.