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By Arnie Stapleton AP Pro Football Writer
The Denver Broncos told Russell Wilson on Monday that they will release him next week, just 18 months after signing the Super Bowl-winning quarterback to a five-year, $242 million contract extension.
The Broncos still owe Wilson his $39 million salary for 2024 minus what he would sign with another team, which would likely be the veteran’s minimum salary of $1.21 million.
One possible landing spot is Pittsburgh. The Steelers will visit Denver next season.
The Broncos will also take a record $89 million hit in salary cap charges over the next two seasons.
Wilson enjoyed a bounce-back year last season under new head coach Sean Payton, throwing for 26 touchdowns with eight interceptions in 15 games.
But he wasn’t good enough and Payton benched him for Jarrett Stidham for the final two games. Stidham went 1-1 and the Broncos finished 8-9, their seventh straight losing season and eighth straight outside the playoffs.
Payton hinted at an impending split at the NFL scouting combine last week when he discussed Denver’s long string of mediocre quarterbacks and suggested his job was to make sure “the next one” was the right quarterback to take the Broncos back into contention.
Wilson, who had remained silent on social media at Payton’s request a year ago, once again shared videos of his workouts and over the weekend All references to the Broncos were removed. from your profile on X (formerly Twitter).
Wilson was acquired in 2022 from the Seattle Seahawks, where he won a Super Bowl title after the 2013 season, for a group of draft picks (two first-rounders and two second-rounders) and players (Drew Lock, Noah Fant and Shelby Harris).
He signed a nearly $250 million extension before playing a single in Denver and then went 4-11 in his first season under coach Nathaniel Hackett, who was fired after 15 games.
Payton had Wilson reduce his social media presence a year ago, and a focused and fit Wilson showed up to training camp 20 pounds lighter.
He went 7-8 before being benched. Wilson maintained that the Broncos had threatened to bench him for the last nine games if he did not delay their $37 million injury guarantee in his contract.
He refused to adjust his contract and started seven more games before being benched in what Payton insisted was a football move, not a financial one.
Wilson’s $37 million 2025 salary would have been guaranteed if he were still on Denver’s roster on March 13, the start of the new league year.
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