From $245 million bust to Super Bowl contender again: the redemption arc of ‘Mr. Unlimited’ Russell Wilson

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — There was a time not long ago when Russell Wilson’s career in the NFL looked to be coming to an end.

A blockbuster 2022 trade had seen him switch the Seattle Seahawks for the Denver Broncos, where he signed a big-money contract. The prevailing thought was that he was the final piece in a Super Bowl-contending team.

But things quickly fell apart and Wilson was released from his contract within two seasons, signing a measly deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wilson’s stock was at an all-time low after the move and he was in a battle with former Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields for the starter’s job in the preseason.

Though Wilson was named the starter before the regular season, an injury forced him out of the Steelers’ first six games, in which the team went 4-2 in his absence. Prospects for the Super Bowl SLVIII winner to even come back into the lineup looked to be increasingly dire.

But Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin made a gutsy call in Week 7, benching Fields and going with the 13-year veteran, despite questions from many. Since being introduced as QB1, Wilson has vindicated his coach and turned back the clock to his Seattle heyday.

The Steelers are 6-1 in that span, with Wilson having his best game of the season in a Week 13 high-scoring victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, throwing for 414 yards and three touchdowns.

“It was fun. We just had a great time,” Wilson said afterwards. “We knew it was a matchup. We knew it was going to be a heavyweight fight.”

The Steelers are now 10-3 and top of the AFC North with a playoff position all but assured.

Wilson has recaptured some of the magic which made him a Super Bowl champion with the Seahawks and one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

2024 has seen a return to form for “Mr. Unlimited.”

From hero to zero

Ten years ago, Russell Wilson was the talk of the NFL.

He had led the Seahawks to a dominant victory at Super Bowl 48, the franchise’s first ever title, in just his second year in the league and was in the midst of another successful season which would see Seattle reach back-to-back Super Bowls, only this time to lose in heartbreaking fashion to the New England Patriots thanks to Malcom Butler’s game-winning interception.

He was the talk of the sport and was rewarded as such, signing a four-year, $87.6 million contract extension with the team to become the second-highest paid player in the league in 2015.

Fast-forward to the beginning of 2024 and it is a very different story.

Wilson’s 10-year spell with the Seahawks came to an end with rumors of discontent swirling, eventually being traded to the Broncos for a huge haul – including two first-round draft picks, two second-rounders, a fifth-rounder, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive tackle Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant.

Upon arriving in Colorado, he signed a five-year extension with the team reportedly worth $245 million.

Such was the acrimonious fashion of the split, Wilson – in his very first game for Denver – was booed vigorously by the Seattle crowd in Week 1 of the 2022 season as he returned to the Pacific Northwest, a game the Broncos lost.

Things didn’t get much better for Denver and Wilson. The QB went 11-19 over his two seasons in Colorado, missing the playoffs both years. The team’s head coach, Nathaniel Hackett, was fired midway through the season, and the nine-time Pro Bowler was benched at the end of the 2023 campaign.

The Russell Wilson experiment in Denver was such a failure that he was eventually cut from the team, despite the financial ramifications: the Broncos incurred $85 million in dead salary over the 2024 and 2025 seasons by releasing Wilson, the largest dead cap hit in league history.

At 36 years of age and with his play declining, was Wilson’s career over?

Yet in what was once the heart of US steel manufacturing, the man born in Cincinnati – who flew high in the Pacific Northwest before crashing down to earth a mile up the mountains – was reforged.

A new lease of life

Expectations for Wilson with the Steelers were low after his Denver stint. The move to Colorado is arguably one of the worst trades in NFL history and Wilson signed a $1.2 million contract with Pittsburgh. In comparison, 25-year-old Fields is earning $3.23 million, per Spotrac.

Although named the starter ahead of the season, a calf injury sustained in practice ruled Wilson out of the opening five weeks before being healthy enough to be a backup in Week 6 and then starting Week 7 against Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets.

However, the decision to replace Fields with Wilson at the time didn’t come without controversy. Many members of the NFL media questioned the decision to switch quarterbacks with the Steelers sitting at 4-2 and looking solid yet unspectacular.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what could motivate (Steelers head coach Mike) Tomlin to make this change,” ESPN analyst Mina Kimes said after the decision was announced ahead of the Jets game. “It’s one that I don’t quite understand.”

Former Steelers safety and ESPN analyst Ryan Clark agreed, adding: “I really don’t know what made the decision to go back to Russell Wilson.”

But since then, Wilson has more than answered those questions.

He threw for 264 yards, two touchdowns and ran in a score in Pittsburgh’s 37–15 victory over New York, which was the team’s second-highest scoring output of the season so far. He helped the Steelers rattle off three more wins before a disappointing loss to the Cleveland Browns in snowy conditions in Week 12.

But Wilson and the Steelers bounced back emphatically in Week 13, scoring 44 points in the high-scoring win over the Bengals as Wilson had his best game since leaving Seattle. His 414 yards were the second-most he’s thrown in a game in his career.

“It’s the first time for him going through AFC North football, and I thought he acclimated himself to it well,” Tomlin told reporters afterwards. “He put himself squarely in the history of this series with that performance today. We’re thankful for him.”

And although it wasn’t his most explosive display in a Week 14 rematch against the Browns, Wilson made timely throws in the biggest moments, including his two touchdown passes to Pat Freiermuth and Van Jefferson.

“Russ has been in this thing a while. He’s not going to shrink in the face of adversity. He’s just seen too much,” Tomlin said after beating the Browns. “I thought he was steady, but equally as important, I thought he kept the group steady until we found our footing.”

The Steelers take on the high-flying Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15 in a battle of two of the NFL’s best teams, but with a two-game lead over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North, Pittsburgh is in prime position to make the playoffs and make a run for its seventh Super Bowl title.

And with Wilson seemingly returning to the form that made him a nine-time Pro Bowler earlier in his career, who’s to say he won’t be a key player later in the AFC’s postseason picture and lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy yet again?

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