Broncos Country lets Russ ride free agency

Denver eats close to $100 million as part of the decision to trade the farm and accomplish nothing with the best quarterback in Seattle’s history.

The Denver Broncos acquired Russell Wilson in a mountain-moving trade that ended in only two seasons of work for Wilson as quarterback. On Monday, the team notified Russ that he will not play for Denver next season.

As part of the move, the Broncos set the record for the most dead cap space associated with one player. They doubled the previous number.

Notably, his parting remarks differ vastly towards Denver as opposed to a couple years ago towards Seattle. This time around, Wilson has quite a bit to say in his thoughtful goodbye message to the fans.

Technically – technically, a reunion with Seattle is an option. In the same kind of way that Dee Eskridge is an option to be the number one receiver on the roster next season. Plenty have speculated about it already, whether serious or not, isn’t always easy to tell.

Wilson will now test free agency for the first time in his career, with plenty of intrigue around his next landing spot. Pittsburgh and Atlanta are among the front-runners.

To that end, although I would side with those who argue the Pittsburgh Steelers make more sense, there is a case to be made that Wilson signing with the Atlanta Falcons helps the Seahawks. The Falcons pick at No. 8 in this draft, and the conversation surrounding J.J. McCarthy has become muddy. If he is somebody John Schneider wants, and if he has climbed that high on the draft chart, then Atlanta getting out of the quarterback market certainly ovens the door for Seattle.

But all that remains to be seen, as does whether Russell Wilson can recapture some of his former glory in another location with another head coach, who, if we’re being honest, can’t possibly like him less than Sean Payton. Wherever he ends up will be an agreement of sorts on both ends, which hopefully bodes better for Russ than the disaster-fest that was two years of Broncos Country most certainly not riding.