💸 Russell Wilson's Broncos release left $85M in NFL dead money

ESPN says the $85M lands over two seasons. The Broncos' statement gave no figure, and a league-wide ranking isn't in the documents read. ⏳

By , sports desk · Desk editor Gustavs Ērkšķis-Kreicbergs · · 2 min read

Kirk CousinsDEAD MONEYPhoto: All-Pro Reels · CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo: All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

What we know

  • ESPN reported on March 11, 2024 that Denver would carry an $85 million dead-money hit over two seasons after releasing Russell Wilson.
  • The Broncos' March 4, 2024 statement told of Wilson's release after the start of the league year and gave no dollar figure.
  • NBC Sports reported on February 24, 2026 that Falcons GM Ian Cunningham confirmed Atlanta would release Kirk Cousins when the new league year began on March 11.
  • Vikings.com reported on November 10, 2026 that Minnesota sent a 2027 third-round pick to the Raiders for Cousins; Raiders.com said completion was pending a physical.

Kirk Cousins is trending after the Raiders traded him back to the Vikings for a 2027 third-round pick, the teams announced Tuesday, with the Raiders saying completion is pending a physical. That deal has its own story on this site. This one is about the other number on his résumé: what a cut costs the team that does the cutting.

The scoreboard

MrMuscles will be straight with you: the documents in hand cover a handful of cuts, not the whole league. So this is the documented board, not an all-time ranking. The top spot is not close.

01

Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos: $85M

ESPN reported on March 11, 2024 that Denver would take on an $85 million dead-money hit over the next two seasons because of Wilson's release. ESPN put the Broncos' contract with him at five years and $242.6 million; NFL.com's 2022 report put the extension at $245 million with $165 million guaranteed. ESPN also reported Denver went 11-19 in his starts. The Broncos' March 4, 2024 statement thanked Wilson and gave no figure.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
02

Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons: $8.7M still owed, total not stated

AtlantaFalcons.com reported the Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal with $100 million guaranteed, citing NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. NBC Sports reported the contract was reworked with a March 13 vesting date that would have guaranteed $67.9 million for 2027, and that a post-June 1 designation spreads the remaining cap hit over two years. Yahoo's Mike Florio, citing a source with knowledge of the Raiders deal, wrote that Atlanta stayed on the hook for $8.7 million. That is money owed after offset, not a cap figure, and none of these documents gives a total dead-cap number.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)

How Wilson's number got built

The Broncos' official site said Denver traded for Wilson in March 2022, sending tight end Noah Fant, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive end Shelby Harris, 2022 and 2023 first-round picks, 2022 and 2023 second-round picks and a 2022 fifth-round pick to Seattle. NFL.com reported the extension in September 2022.

On December 27, 2023, NFL.com reported, citing Ian Rapoport, that the Broncos were benching Wilson for the last two games partly to avoid an injury guarantee of $37 million for 2025 becoming fully guaranteed in March. Coach Sean Payton said the main push was to get a spark offensively. Wilson posted on X: "God's got me. Looking forward to what's next."

Cousins, for the record, has gone the other way on paper. The Raiders have a one-year-style structure that Florio describes as unlikely to run past 2026, and the Falcons chose the cut date themselves. A full ranking of the biggest dead-money hits would need cap figures for every release. These sources only supply them for Wilson, so that is where the scoreboard stops.

The Kirk Cousins file

Last entry Feb 24, 2026
  1. Reported

    NBC Sports reported Falcons GM Ian Cunningham said Atlanta would release Cousins when the new league year began March 11. This story

On file: The Kirk Cousins file · The Denver Broncos file · The Minnesota Vikings file · The Russell Wilson file

The Ledger

On the record

  • ESPN reported an $85 million Broncos dead-money hit over two seasons from Russell Wilson's release; the Broncos' statement named no figure.

Still rumour

  • A league-wide ranking of dead-money hits is not in the documents read, and no total dead-cap figure for Cousins' Falcons release is stated.
  • Wilson's Broncos contract is reported as $242.6M by ESPN and $245M by NFL.com.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MrMuscles

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