Russell free to meet with other teams Saban: Portal, NIL changed college game
Russell Wilson is getting a head start to find a new home.
The Broncos granted their lame-duck quarterback permission to meet with other teams before they officially release him next week, according to ESPN.
The Broncos plan to cut Wilson once the new league year begins on March 13, the team announced Monday, and will reportedly eat $85 million in dead money on his mega-contract.
“Tough times don’t last, but tough people do,” Wilson said in a statement Monday. “God’s got me. I am excited for what’s next.”
The 35-year-old Wilson, a Super Bowl champion and ninetime Pro Bowler with Seattle, threw for 26 touchdowns against eight interceptions last year, but went just 11-19 over two disappointing seasons with Denver.
Wilson is due $39 million next season, though any team that signs him could do so for a minimum $915,000 contract, leaving Denver to pay the rest.
The Broncos traded a haul, including two first-round picks, two second-round picks and quarterback Drew Lock to the Seahawks to acquire Wilson in 2022, then signed him to a five-year, $245 million extension.
But Denver failed to make the playoffs in either of Wilson’s seasons there, even after hiring Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton before the 2023 campaign. The Broncos were 7-8 and still alive for a wild-card spot when they benched Wilson for backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham in December.
“We’re desperately trying to win,” Payton said at the time. “Sure, in our game today, there are economics and all those other things, but the number one push behind this, and it’s a decision I’m making, is to get a spark offensively.”
Wilson then claimed the Broncos threatened weeks earlier to bench him if he declined to adjust a $37 million guarantee in his contract that would trigger if he failed a physical in the offseason. Wilson said he did not agree to do so.
It’s unclear how much of a market Wilson faces following back-to-back uneven seasons, especially with multiple quarterback-needy teams picking high in next month’s draft, which is considered deep at the position. Kirk Cousins is expected to be the most in-demand quarterback in free agency.
College football players are tackling much different priorities in the era of NIL and the transfer portal, according to Nick Saban.
The sport’s changing landscape felt particularly evident to the former Alabama coach as he met with his team following the 2023 season, shortly before he retired.
“I thought we could have a hell of a team next year, and then maybe 70 or 80 percent of the players you talk to, all they want to know is two things: What assurances do I have that I’m going to play because they’re thinking about transferring, and how much are you going to pay me?” Saban told ESPN in an interview published Wednesday.
Saban, who won seven national championships in his 28 seasons in college, retired in January at 72, less than two weeks after leading the Crimson Tide to another berth in the College Football Playoff. Alabama replaced him with Kalen DeBour, who just took Washington to the national championship game.
While Saban didn’t specify why he decided to retire, he acknowledged to ESPN that his past methods weren’t resonating as much with today’s athletes.
“Our program here was always built on how much value can we create for your future and your personal development, academic success in graduating and developing an NFL career on the field,” Saban said.
“I’m saying to myself, ‘Maybe this doesn’t work anymore, that the goals and aspirations are just different and that it’s all about how much money can I make as a college player?’ I’m not saying that’s bad,” Saban said. “I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just saying that’s never been what we were all about, and it’s not why we had success through the years.”
The NCAA updated its rules in 2021, allowing players to make money off of their names, images and likenesses (NIL) and letting them transfer without sitting out a year.
Saban, who won six of his NCAA championships during his 17 seasons with Alabama, is hardly the first veteran coach to discuss the challenges presented by NIL and the transfer portal. Rick Pitino, who overhauled the St. John’s roster through the portal after taking the St. John’s job last year, has described college sports as free agency.
“It’s a tough time in college basketball right now, and for us, we can’t really build programs and a culture because everybody leaves,” Pitino said last month. “We did it with six fifth-year guys (this season). They’re all gonna leave, and then we’ve got to replace (them) with new free agents.”