Sounds like nobody wants Russell Wilson — unless he gets cut

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton announced Tuesday that the team’s decision on the fate of quarterback Russell Wilson will come in the next two weeks. Tell that to the rest of the league.

There is seemingly little interest in actually acquiring the 36-year-old signal caller at the moment, at least via trade.

“You know, I haven’t heard anything from any teams,” Broncos GM George Paton said when asked about a potential Wilson trade Tuesday. “So, we’ll see.”

Wilson has had a rocky tenure since joining the Denver Broncos. 2022 was, by most metrics, the worst season of Wilson’s career. 2023 wasn’t much better. Despite the uptick in scoring helping Wilson put up 26 passing touchdowns, the Broncos quarterback set a new career low in total passing yards on the third-lowest success rate as a passer in his career.

Most of the lack of interest, though, comes down to Wilson’s contract. Wilson’s remaining average contract value of $49 million is the fifth-most of any quarterback in the league behind Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, and Jalen Hurts. At age 36, Wilson still has $85 million in dead money attached to his deal. After 2024, the next four years’ cap hits all exceed $50 million.

The lack of interest means that the Broncos would likely have to cut Wilson if they choose to move on from him. Not only would Denver eat the $85 million in dead money, but they would also take a $49.6 million cap hit if done before June 1.

“It hasn’t changed,” Paton said. “We had to get through our draft meetings. We had to get through our free agent meetings and evaluate with what we have. So we just want to get through the process. Sean needs to see all these quarterbacks, the coaches need to see all these quarterbacks until we make an informed decision.”