Russell Wilson seeks 2 titles, with Broncos or wherever wanted،
As he did after being benched last season, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson said he still hopes he can finish his career in Denver, but added: “You also want to be [in] a place that wants you too.
Wilson's latest comments are part of a wide-ranging 84-minute interview with former Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall on the “I Am Athlete” podcast released Sunday night. Wilson discussed uncertainty over his immediate future in the NFL as well as his desire to win two more Super Bowls during his career.
“I have more fire than ever, honestly, especially in the last couple of years that I've been around,” Wilson said when Marshall asked about the 35-year-old quarterback's desire. “Whether it's Denver or wherever. If not, I hope it's Denver, I hope I can end up there. I committed there, I wanted to be there. I want to be there.”
He added: “For me it's about winning. In the next two years I want to win two [Super Bowls], I want to feel the freshness of this trophy again. I love the city and everything else, but you also want to be [in] a place that wants you too. What I want is to win, that’s all that matters to me.”
When asked where he would play in 2024 if it wasn't in Denver, Wilson said, “I honestly haven't thought about it.”
Marshall then read Wilson the odds of him playing for various teams next season, and the quarterback responded, “Well, I'm going to put Denver 1, because I'm there right now, but I think you have to have the ability to compartmentalize that. Look, it's a business and you don't have to be emotional about it…and it doesn't matter what you control, what you can control. …If not is not the case [in Denver]However, I need to go to a place where we can win again.
This echoes what Wilson said in December during his last public interview in the Broncos locker room.
“I hope it’s here, I hope it’s here for a long time,” he said then. “I hope we win some more trophies in the lobby and get some more championships, and if it's not here I'll be willing to do it somewhere else, but I hope it's is here, I really mean it. I brought my family here and everything else.
On December 27, Broncos coach Sean Payton announced that Wilson would be benched in favor of Jarrett Stidham for the December 31 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Stidham also started in the season finale against the Raiders in Las Vegas on January 7.
The Broncos went 1-1 in those games, with two of their four lowest scores of the season — 16 points in a win over the Chargers and 14 in a loss to the Raiders.
Payton said it was a football decision he made looking for a “spark” on offense. Wilson, however, said on Dec. 29 that the Broncos approached him about waiving a clause in the five-year, $242.6 million contract he signed. 2022 which would give the quarterback, who is already guaranteed $39 million in 2024 whether he is on the team or not, an additional $37 million (his 2025 salary) guaranteed if he cannot pass a medical examination on the fifth day of the new championship year. in March.
Wilson said at the time that “on Monday or Tuesday” after the Broncos' Oct. 29 win over the Chiefs — which snapped Denver's 16-game losing streak against Kansas City — Broncos decision-makers said they would would put on the bench. if he didn't adjust the $37 million guarantee. “They definitely told me I was going to be benched and all that,” Wilson said then.
In the interview with Marshall, Wilson expanded on that point, adding: “I didn't believe it at first. … I got this call: 'Hey, we're going to put you on the bench for the next nine games if you do it'. I'm not changing your injury guarantee. … I didn't want to set a precedent for players having injury guarantees, I had no chance of doing that. … I told them Said I wasn't going to do it, no shooting.
Wilson also noted that Payton, days before the Broncos' game against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 13, told him to “act like nothing is happening, you're going to play this week, we have to win a game. . big game in Buffalo.
Wilson added that “no one knew, the only person who actually knew on the team was [wide receiver] Courtland [Sutton] …the only person who knew in terms of players [the] The first two weeks it was Courtland.
The drama led to widespread speculation around the league that the Broncos would release Wilson in the coming weeks, take $85 million in dead money against their salary cap next season and open up the quarterback position just two years after sending out five draft picks. (including two first round and two second round) and three starters from the Seattle Seahawks to acquire him.
And although the Broncos and Wilson have each said publicly that the veteran might stay with the team, he has put his Denver home up for sale in recent weeks and real estate agents have been showing it to potential buyers.
Wilson also told Marshall:
• On how the season went after the contract/bench discussion: “You swallow that pill, you swallow what you're going through. … Yeah, it was tough. … I didn't talk to anyone about it. no one, really.''
• That former Seahawks coach, Pete Carroll, texted him several times last season saying, “I still believe in you.” »
• That he had a knee injury “cleaned up” through surgery after the 2022 season, his first in Denver, allowing him to move better in 2023. Wilson added: “To go to Denver, I have to play until at the end. [the injuries]I want to win…after that first year in Denver, things didn't go the way we wanted, but I signed up for the long term there.
• On his future: “In the next five years I'll win two more Super Bowl trophies, that's my goal… that's my plan… knowing that you want to be one of the biggest winners for play this game.”
