Broncos say they’ll release Wilson, absorb dead-cap hit of $85 million
Quarterback Russell Wilson will be released next week at the start of the new league year
March 13, ending a dramatic two-year run in Denver with the Broncos absorbing a record deadcap hit of $85 million.
Wilson was informed by the Broncos on Monday that the team plans to cut him, moving on before his contract called for $37 million in salary guarantees for the 2025 season.
Wilson’s $39 million salary for 2024 was already guaranteed.
Wilson, 35, issued a statement that concluded: “Tough times don’t last, but tough people do.
God’s got me. I am excited for what’s next.”
Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowl pick, was acquired from the Seattle Seahawks prior to the 2022 season for three players and five draft choices. The Broncos then gave him a five-year, $242.5 million contract extension before playing a down for the team.
Benched for the final two games of the 2023 season to avoid an injury that would trigger guarantees in his contract, Wilson posted an 11-19 record in 30 starts with the Broncos.
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New deal for Evans: Tampa Bay and Pro Bowl wide receiver Mike
Evans are in agreement on a two-year, $52 million extension, media outlets reported.
The deal includes $35 million guaranteed, according ESPN said.
Evans, 30, was set to hit free agency this month. He just finished a fiveyear, $82.5 million contract.
Evans reached 1,000 receiving yards for the 10th straight season in 2023, a record at the outset of a career and just one off the overall consecutive-seasons mark held by Jerry Rice. Evans had 79 catches last season for 1,255 yards with a leagueleading 13 touchdowns.
Next up in Tampa is quarterback Baker Mayfield, whom the Bucs also hope to lock up to a longterm deal.
Jason Kelce retires:
A tearful Jason Kelce
announced his retirement after 13 seasons as the center for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The six-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl selection started 205 games for the Eagles, including the postseason.
The announcement was expected as he had telegraphed his plans earlier in the offseason.
Drafted in the sixth round in 2011, Kelce, 36, became a Super Bowl LII champion and one of the most durable, decorated and respected centers in NFL history — and one of the league’s most passionate players.
“I’ve been asked many times why did I choose football — what drew me to the game — and I never have an answer that gets it right,” Kelce said while fighting tears. “The best way I could explain it is what draws you to your favorite song … your favorite book. It’s what it makes you feel. The seriousness of it. The intensity of it.
“Stepping on the field was the most alive and free I had ever felt. There was a visceral feeling with football, unlike any sport. The hairs on my arms would stand up. I could hit somebody, run around like a crazed lunatic and then get told, ‘Good job.’ I love football.”
Kelce often played hurt and had not missed a start since Week 8 of the 2014 season. His 193 regularseason starts rank second in Eagles history behind longtime teammate and defensive end Brandon Graham (195).
The other four centers in NFL history with at least six All-Pro selections are all in the Hall of Fame: Jim Otto, Bulldog Turner, Dermontti Dawson
and Jim Ringo.
Kelce, 36, is the older brother of Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce.
Longtime ESPN reporter Mortensen dies: Award-winning NFL reporter Chris Mortensen who spent the bulk of his decorated career with ESPN, died Sunday at 72.
Mortensen, affectionately known by his colleagues as “Mort,” announced in September that he had stepped away from ESPN following that April’s NFL draft to “focus on health, family and faith.”
He took a leave of absence from ESPN in 2016 to undergo treatment for Stage 4 throat cancer.
That same year, he broke the news that Peyton Manning would retire.
Mortensen helped to institutionalize the role of “NFL insider” for media organizations. Before joining ESPN in 1991, he worked for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The National Sports Daily and other newspapers.
He received a George Polk Award in 1987 and the Dick McCann Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
“Mort was one of the greatest reporters in sports history, and an even better man,” ESPN reporter Adam Schefter wrote Sunday on social media.