Russell Wilson is beginning anew in 2024 as the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers following his Denver disaster. After being dealt from the Seattle Seahawks to the Denver Broncos in 2022, the Super Bowl champion struggled mightily — which led the Broncos to part ways with him just two years later, and take on an NFL-record $85 million in dead cap.
Wilson gets his shot at revenge in Week 2, when the Steelers travel to The Mile High City to take on Wilson’s former team. One of Wilson’s former teammates is excited to play against him, and hopes to intercept the quarterback in a Broncos victory.
“I’m really excited obviously for any game I get to play in,” Broncos linebacker Jonas Griffith said on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan, H/T NFL.com. “But you see that one you’re excited to go out there and — beat the Steelers, first of all, it’s a good organization. I want to pick off Russ, for sure. I think that would be really cool, just to pick him off and get the victory, first and foremost.”
Wilson went 11-19 as the starter during his time in Denver. His first season with the Broncos under first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett was especially atrocious, as Wilson went 4-11 while setting career-worsts in completion percentage (60.5%), passing touchdowns (16) and passer rating (84.4). Wilson’s play did improve in 2023, but he still had a losing record as starter, and was benched after a home loss to the lowly New England Patriots on Christmas Eve. He recorded the third-best completion percentage of his career (66%), but averaged his worst yards per attempt (6.9).
While Wilson is viewed as QB1 in Pittsburgh, he’s still going to have to earn that title. The Steelers also traded for Justin Fields this offseason, who is set on competing with Russ.
