Broncos may only get revenge on Russell Wilson as he watches from sideline

The Denver Broncos still owed Russell Wilson a lot of money when they made the decision to cut him earlier this offseason. Not only did the Broncos take on an NFL-worst $85 million in dead cap on Wilson's contract when they decided to cut him this offseason, but he was still owed $39 million in guaranteed cash. The Broncos ended up on the hook for roughly $37.8 million of that after Wilson signed a one-year deal with the Steelers as a free agent, and the financial failure with Wilson was just one of many reasons why many in Broncos Country were hoping to see Wilson out there on the field for the Broncos in Week 2.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming to Denver for the Broncos' home opener in Week 2, but it doesn't look like they're going to see Russell Wilson trotting out there at the quarterback position.

According to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, Wilson is officially "questionable" with a calf injury he's been dealing with since the preseason.

Broncos-Steelers final injury report has Russell Wilson as questionable

It will still be quite the spectacle when Wilson takes the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers, whether he's announced as the starting quarterback or if fans just see him come out of the tunnel in his uniform. Even though he's listed as questionable on the injury report, Wilson is not expected to start the game because his availability is already in question, per Tomlin.

If the Broncos are going to get revenge on Russell Wilson, it won't be by beating him on the field. They're going to have to do it as he watches on the sideline for the opposing team.

When Wilson came to Denver in 2022, there were hopes that he could be the organization's second-coming of Peyton Manning. Warnings of his decline as a player were completely ignored by many in Broncos Country -- myself included -- due to the overwhelmingly positive numbers Wilson put up over a decade in Seattle.

The Seahawks knew what the Broncos apparently didn't, and Wilson's first year in Denver was disastrous and downright embarrassing. Even though Sean Payton came in as the head coach in 2023 and insisted that the Wilson we saw in 2022 was not indicative of the player he truly was, we still saw Payton get frustrated with Russ and bench him late in the 2023 season.

That situation, along with Wilson and his camp airing out the Broncos approaching him about a contract restructure during the season, ultimately really soured things between Wilson and the Broncos as well as Wilson and the Denver fan base.

And while nobody wants Wilson to be injured, fans in Broncos Country certainly aren't wishing him the greatest of success in Pittsburgh because, if he can go there and have success, why couldn't he do it in Denver?

At this point, we've yet to see Wilson make his Steelers regular season debut. Justin Fields started in their win over the Falcons on the road in Week 1 and he'll start again in Week 2 on the road in Denver. And the Broncos can only hope to handle the Steelers well enough to prove to Wilson that he's the one missing out after this game.