The Denver Broncos will take on an $85 million hit in dead money on its salary cap over the next two seasons because of Russell Wilson’s release. It’s without a doubt one of the worst trades and contracts in the history of the NFL.
The Broncos are paying Wilson nearly $38 million this year to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will only pay him just over $1 million on a veteran minimum contract.
Russell Wilson is not in his prime, but to get a nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion for basically nothing is an absolute steal. In addition to Justin Fields, who will earn $3.2 million this year, the Steelers are paying their top two quarterbacks about only $4.5 million. That’s extremely cheap, and rare for two quarterbacks.
Jason Reid, who writes for Andscape, named Wilson as the biggest bargain in free agency.
“It’s easy to forget now, but Wilson once was a perennial Pro Bowler who seemed destined for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And even if he’s merely competent under center, that would be much more than the Steelers have gotten from the position recently,” Reid wrote.
ESPN fantasy football analyst Stephania Bell also praised the Steelers signing of Wilson.
“From a financial perspective, it’s hard to argue with a deal in which the player’s new team is paying so much less than the former team,” Bell said. “And it will be interesting to see what version of Wilson the Steelers can unlock. He might not move like he used to, but he can still throw the ball and the Steelers should be able to stretch the field in ways we haven’t recently seen.”
At the NFL owner’s meetings on Sunday in Orlando, Mike Tomlin said he never envisioned landing both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields this offseason, and gave credit to general manager Omar Khan for making the complicated series of transactions work well for the Steelers.
“Through conversation and work — and can’t give Omar enough credit — we were able to acquire both guys,” Tomlin said.