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Russell Wilson isn’t exactly known as a someone who’s willing to take a discount, but that’s exactly what happened on Sunday night when he agreed to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
According to ESPN.com, Wilson’s new contract will pay him the league minimum of $1.21 million for the 2024 season, which is a bargain-basement price for a BACKUP quarterback in the NFL, let alone someone who might end up starting for your team.
To put Wilson’s salary in perspective, just consider this: Backup quarterbacks like Nick Mullens ($1.72 million), Cooper Rush ($2.25 million) and Mike White ($3.5 million) are all scheduled to make more money than Wilson in 2024. Kenny Pickett, who will now be competing with Wilson for the starting QB job in Pittsburgh, will also make more thanks to his salary of $1.98 million.
Although Wilson struggled during his two seasons with the Broncos, he’s still a nine-time Pro Bowler who could have commanded more on the open market in free agency, but instead, he settled for the league minimum.
So why did he do it? The answer has everything to do with something called “offsets.”
If a team still owes you money when it cuts you, it has to pay you that money, but if you sign with another team, the amount you sign for is subtracted from what your old teams owes you.
In Wilson’s case, when the Broncos made the decision to cut him on March 4, they knew they were going to have to pay him $39 million in 2024 even though he wasn’t going to be on the team, so Wilson knew he was going to be paid nearly $40 million for the upcoming season no matter what he did. If he had decided to sit out the 2024 season, the Broncos would have still been on the hook for the full $39 million.
Since the Steelers are paying Wilson $1.21 million, that cuts down on Denver’s obligations to Wilson, so now, the Broncos will only owe him $37.79 million for the upcoming…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/why-russell-wilsons-bargain-contract-with-the-steelers-will-end-up-financially-hurting-the-broncos/
Author : John Breech
Publish date : 2024-03-11 12:10:54
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