Wilson: 'I would love' to come back to Broncos
Russell Wilson would prefer to remain with the Denver Broncos but says he'd like to play for a team that wants him.
"People think I'm out of there. Maybe I am, but no matter what, I would love to go back," Wilson said on the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast. "I committed there. I committed to be there. I committed to win championships. I want to win more Super Bowls there.
"I love the city and everything else, but you also want to be at a place that wants you."
Wilson's future in Denver has looked bleak since being benched for the final two games of the 2023 regular season. Though head coach Sean Payton said on-field factors determined Wilson's demotion, it was presumed the team sidelined him to avoid injury ahead of an expected offseason release.
The Broncos quarterback said during the podcast that the team initially told him after a Week 8 win that he'd be benched for the remainder of the year if he didn't adjust his injury guarantees. Wilson added that he continued to start after his agent contacted the NFLPA.
"I didn't want to set a precedent for players to remove their injury guarantees," Wilson said. "There was no way I was going to do that."
He added that Payton later told him he'd continue to start and that the quarterback should forget the incident "like nothing happened." That stood true until a Week 16 loss to the New England Patriots dropped Denver to 7-8.
"That's when he told me he was going to bench me, and I was like, 'Man, we were just winning not too long ago,'" Wilson said.
Though the 35-year-old would become one of the top quarterbacks available in free agency if released, Wilson declined to rank other possible destinations.
"I would put Denver No. 1 'cause I'm there right now," Wilson said. "I'd love to be there, you know, (I'd) love to win. That's what I came here to do - to win more Super Bowls. If it's not there, though, I got to go to a place where we're going to win again."
Wilson also denied rumors that his Denver home is up for sale.
The Broncos signed Wilson to a five-year, $242.6-million deal after acquiring him in a trade in 2022. His $37-million base salary for 2025 becomes guaranteed if he's on the roster on March 17, per Spotrac.