Former Broncos QB Russell Wilson calls it a career, taking big TV job

Former Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson is calling it an NFL career.

He won’t be playing on the field any longer, but will still be around football.

Wilson is finalizing a deal to do television with CBS Sports, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and other reports on Monday morning.

Sources: Ten-time Pro-Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson is finalizing a deal to become a CBS Sports analyst. Wilson won a Super Bowl, the Walter Payton Man of the Year award and now leaves the NFL to become an analyst on the network’s pregame show that includes James Brown, Nate… pic.twitter.com/YEsi3OyDRv

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 1, 2026

The Broncos acquired Russell Wilson in the spring of 2022 in a massive trade with the Seattle Seahawks. Denver GM George Paton swung big, giving up two first-round picks, two-second round picks and Drew Lock, Noah Fant and Shelby Harris for Wilson. The two teams also swapped later round selections.

I didn’t work out in the Mile High City — far from it — as Wilson’s tenure was a disaster with the Broncos. He received a five-year, $245 million contract extension before even playing a down in orange and blue.

2022 was awful as Wilson went 4-11 as a starter and incompetent head coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired. Sean Payton came to town and he and Wilson clashed from basically the beginning. He went 7-8 that season before getting benched for Jarrett Stidham as the Broncos didn’t want Wilson to get hurt before letting him go.

Denver cut him the following offseason, taking on (at the time) the largest dead cap hit in NFL history. Wilson went on to have stops with the Steelers and the Giants the last two seasons.

Reports surfaced recently that Russell Wilson could be the backup QB for the Jets in 2026, but he ultimately opted for the cushy television gig with CBS instead.

And who could blame him? Why go hold a clipboard for one of the worst franchises in the NFL when he can transition into a lucrative broadcasting career and be watched by millions of people?

We’ll see if Wilson is a Hall of Famer one day, but that would strictly be based on his time with the Seahawks. Wilson won a Super Bowl in Seattle and made the Pro Bowl nine times. He also snuck into the Pro Bowl after his year with the Steelers.

Emotions about Wilson are certainly complicated in Denver. But now that the Broncos have Bo Nix and are Super Bowl contenders, fans have moved on.

A sincere good luck to Russell Wilson on his next gig — we’ll see plenty of him on our televisions this fall and beyond.

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