NFL free agency will officially open on Monday, but plenty of deals are already being discussed and figure to be announced as soon as the noon “legal tampering window” opens.
One such deal will be Russell Wilson joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the former Super Bowl winner was released earlier this month by the Denver Broncos as they seem ready to reset their roster almost entirely. Wilson’s time in Denver was fairly disastrous, even if he rebounded some from a horrendous 2022 season with an up-and-down 2023 campaign, and the team’s decision to give him a long-term deal immediately after trading for him backfired spectacularly as they now have $85 million in dead cap on their sheet.
Wilson announced the news on his social media page with a video set to “Renegade.”
Year 13. Grateful. @Steelers pic.twitter.com/0U4Q2sRtXs
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) March 11, 2024
That money owed to Wilson allows him to sign a much cheaper contract than he’d otherwise be seeking, and that has allowed him to reach an agreement on a 1-year deal in Pittsburgh that will be “team-friendly” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Nine-time Pro-Bowl QB and former Super-Bowl champ Russell Wilson plans to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, per league sources. Wilson will sign a team-friendly, one-year deal in which the Broncos will wind up paying $38 million of his salary while Wilson wears the black and… pic.twitter.com/eqQC8w0tIK
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2024
While Wilson wasn’t spectacular in 2023, he also showed he might still have some left in the tank as he completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 3,070 yards, 26 TDs, and eight interceptions. That might not be what you want from a guy making $40+ million per year, but it’s a massive upgrade over what the Steelers have had at the quarterback position in recent years, as Kenny Pickett has not panned out and they had Mason Rudolph starting to end this last season. That they still managed to make the playoffs in spite of getting almost nothing out of the QB position is a minor miracle, and we’ll see just how much competence at that position (provided Wilson can simply duplicate last year) can do for the Steelers in 2024.
Source: https://uproxx.com/sports/russell-wilson-pittsburgh-steelers-signing-free-agency/
