Russell Wilson is going through free agency for the second time in his career. Last year, he was able to sign with any team for the veteran minimum with the Denver Broncos picking up the rest of the tab. That isn’t the case this year, and it seems that he’s having trouble establishing a market for himself. The Cleveland Browns may be his last hope at ending up with a starting job.
“From what I’m hearing, the Cleveland Browns still have interest in Russell Wilson,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said on Friday’s edition of _[Get Up](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn3nHXu50t5xU9FvI2M2km5a4GgfqfKlY)_. “They’re still pursuing that angle, but they have Carson Wentz as a contingency plan. There’s some mutual interest there. If Wilson falls through, Kirk Cousins would be a prime option for the Browns, I’m told, but he’s simply not available right now.”
The Browns probably aren’t an ideal destination for any quarterback who wants to win like Wilson clearly does, but it would give him two opportunities for some sweet revenge. The Steelers haven’t exactly included him in their plans after rolling with him for the final 12 games of the 2025 season including the playoff loss.
If he does end up in Cleveland, he would be reunited with WR Jerry Jeudy who he worked with for two years as a member of the Denver Broncos. They didn’t have the strongest connection in Denver, and Jeudy really took off last year with Jameis Winston as his quarterback. For what it’s worth, Myles Garrett seemed to hint that he was satisfied with the Browns’ plan at quarterback this upcoming season. I can’t imagine that optimism was about Russell Wilson and Kenny Pickett, though he did [reportedly make a pitch](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/03/myles-garrett-talked-to-russell-wilson-during-his-browns-visit-thinks-hes-be-a-valuable-asset/) to Wilson when he recently visited the Browns.
If this does happen, it would be the second time that Pickett thinks he has a chance to start only for Wilson to get signed. This time, he probably doesn’t have any trade value to demand his way out of town like he did in Pittsburgh. There would be plenty of ironic, and sort of funny, storylines if Wilson ends up in Cleveland.
They could also opt out of the veteran market entirely and draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“There is love in the building for both Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, but the feeling around the league is the Titans could go Ward. That leaves them with Sanders. But I’m told the Browns do like his processing speed mental game at the line of scrimmage.”
How would Coach Prime and his son react to ending up with one of the historic bottom dwellers of the NFL? Could they take the Eli Manning route if it comes down to it? There would be nothing more Cleveland than that.