Russel Wilson looking for a new place to call home
NFL Insider Ian Rapaport reported that the Denver Broncos are moving on from veteran quarterback Russel Wilson. According to Bleacher Report, the Broncos will be taking on an $85 million dead cap hit with the release of Wilson. This signals that Sean Payton wants to bring in his guy to lead this team. That will be extremely difficult for a few reasons. The first reason is that the Broncos only have $16.1 million in cap space, according to SI.com.
The other reason is that the Broncos currently have no. 12 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, which puts them out of reach for a top Quarterback in the draft. When Sean Payton was hired to be the Broncos’ new head coach after Nathaniel Hackett was fired, I thought we would see the prime Seahawks version of Russell Wilson. However, as the season went on, I wondered if it was Drew Brees who made Sean Payton and not Sean Payton who made Drew Brees. Wilson should have plenty of suitors in free agency (although he might need to take a cheaper contract when he signs). According to msn.com, there are four potential landing spots for Wilson. The first is the Falcons, which makes a lot of sense for a few reasons. The first is that with the Falcons hiring Raheem Morris as the new head coach, he might prefer a veteran over a rookie. The second is that they have great pieces on offense, which would be great for Wilson.
The next team is the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have said they wanted to bring in some competition for current starter Kenny Pickett (but let’s be honest, if they brought in Wilson, Picket would transition to backup). The next team is the Tennessee Titans. With Will Levis as their current starter, if Wilson went to the Titans, I could see him as a mentor/teacher for Levis. Based on his experience in the league, I think he would be one hell of a teacher. If Levis were to get injured, you would have a quarterback that you would be confident in sending into a game, barring unexpected injuries. It will be interesting to see where Wilson ends up but it will be just as exciting to find out.