There have been few clues as to where Russell Wilson might end up for the 2024 season, with the Broncos likely looking to move on from the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
A Seahawks legend provided one Thursday.
Shaun Alexander, who led Seattle to an appearance in Super Bowl XL after winning NFL MVP in 2005, has heard rumblings that Wilson could end up with the Falcons, he told Kay Adams on Thursday on her show “Up & Adams.”
“I’ve been hearing maybe Atlanta,” Alexander said. “That’s what I’ve been hearing, but I’m not sure.”
The Falcons, who recently hired Raheem Morris as their new head coach after interviewing Bill Belichick twice, make sense as a potential destination for Wilson, as they need an answer at quarterback.
Desmond Ridder, a 2022 third-round pick out of Cincinnati, failed to impress in his first full year as the starter this season, throwing for 2,836 yards, 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 15 games (13 starts).
The 24-year-old was benched multiple times for backup Taylor Heinicke.
Wilson, 35, was expected to bring the Broncos back to prominence after being acquired from Seattle in a 2022 trade and signing a five-year, $242.6 million contract extension.
But his first season under first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett was disastrous, with Hackett getting fired 15 games into the season after a 4-11 start.
In 15 games, Wilson completed a career-low 60.5 percent of his passes and threw a career-low 16 touchdowns, along with 3,524 yards and 11 interceptions while getting sacked 55 times.
The Broncos then brought in Sean Payton as their new head coach, and while Wilson’s numbers improved (26 touchdowns, eight interceptions), Payton clearly wasn’t happy with Wilson, at times chastising the quarterback on the sideline.
At the end of October, the Broncos approached Wilson, wanting him to adjust the guaranteed money in his contract, and Wilson said the team threatened to bench him if he didn’t agree to it.
Wilson was ultimately benched for the final two games of the season, with Jarrett Stidham starting those two games.
After a 1-5 start in 2023, Wilson and the Broncos won five straight games but then lost three of four before he was benched.
“I don’t know what happened,” Alexander said. “The stats were there, they went on a five-game win streak, I’m like, ‘This is it. We’re about to go do this.’ And then there’s something that just went on that, you know, Sean or someone in his group just thought, ‘This ain’t gonna get us to the long haul.’ I thought they were there. When you win five games in a row … you’re doing something right.”
Payton surprisingly didn’t rule out Wilson returning to Denver after the season ended, though the situation between the two seems untenable.
The Falcons have the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, so they likely won’t have a chance to pick one of the top two or three quarterbacks unless they trade up.