Russell Wilson Turns Down NFL Job for Broadcasting Role. Is Canton on the Horizon?

The first day of June is typically one of the busiest days of the NFL calendar as it’s when the financial books essentially roll over, giving teams more flexibility to make transactions. This June 1 saw the shocking trade of Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, the expected trade of A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots, and the reuniting of Odell Beckham with the New York Giants.

Given that flurry of moves, it may have flown under the radar that a Super Bowl-winning, potential Hall of Fame quarterback is apparently calling it a career. Russell Wilson accepted a broadcasting position with CBS Sports for the 2026 NFL season, despite having an offer to be a backup quarterback on the New York Jets. Wilson, 37, hasn’t officially announced his retirement but has been dumped by three teams over the last three years.

Wilson is one of the more polarizing players in recent memory, and those divided opinions will likely resurface with the debate on whether he’s a Hall of Famer. That will be up to the Canton voters when his name comes up on the ballot in a few years, but his career accomplishments certainly give Wilson a sufficient resume.

Quarterbacks get judged by wins and losses more so than any other position, and for nearly a decade, no QB was better at accumulating Ws than Wilson. He still holds the NFL record for most wins through a quarterback’s first nine seasons (98), which are three more than Patrick Mahomes. Speaking of victories, Wilson led the Seattle Seahawks to a win in Super Bowl XLVIII, before nearly repeating the following season.

Wilson infamously never received a single league MVP vote through his 14 NFL seasons and has just one All-Pro selection (2019 second team) to his name. However, he finished among the top four in Offensive Player of the Year voting three times, was voted by his peers as the second-best player on the 2020 NFL Top 100 rankings, and went to a decade’s worth of Pro Bowls with 10 selections. Among quarterbacks, only Tom Brady (15), Peyton Manning (14), Drew Brees (13), and Brett Favre (11) have more Pro Bowl nods.

Wilson is also fifth in NFL history in passer rating. His mark of 99.3 is topped only by Lamar Jackson (102.2), Aaron Rodgers (102.2), Joe Burrow (101.1), and Mahomes (100.8). Wilson was known for his deep ball, also known as the “moon ball,” as he wasn’t afraid to take shots down the field. His adjusted yards per pass attempt of 7.99 is the fourth highest in league history.

Wilson threw for 46,966 yards, with a 64.6 percent completion rate, 353 touchdowns, and 114 interceptions. He ranks 16th in NFL history in passing yards and 12th in passing touchdowns, and for his Hall of Fame merits, it’s notable who’s ahead of him on both lists. Every quarterback who is eligible for the Hall of Fame ahead of Wilson on both the yards and touchdowns lists is in Canton, save for Eli Manning.

When comparing those two, in Manning’s favor is that he has two Super Bowl victories, in addition to a pair of Super Bowl MVP awards. But in Wilson’s favor are both his efficiency and his accomplishments. Wilson threw half as many interceptions as Manning, and the former also had more than twice as many Pro Bowl nods as the younger Manning. As for what each provided as a runner, there is no comparison.

Wilson rushed for 5,568 yards and 31 touchdowns over his 14-season career. That yardage is good enough for fourth-most by any quarterback and is ahead of several notable running backs. Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Marion Motley look up to Wilson on the rushing yards list, as do backs Mike Alstott, Darren McFadden, and Reggie Bush. Wilson is the only player in NFL history with 40,000 passing yards and 5,000 rushing yards. Even if you lower those standards to 35,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards, Wilson is still the only one to ever do it.

With all of that scrambling also came lots of sacks, 570 of them to be exact. Only Rodgers (600) has been taken down more, and Wilson has also been sacked the fourth-most times (53) in postseason history. But the teams he played for happily took those negatives with the overwhelming positives Wilson brought to the table.

His negatives will surely be brought up whenever his name is presented to Hall of Fame voters, which, if this truly is the end of his NFL career, will be in 2031. That’s when Wilson’s name will first appear on the Hall of Fame ballot after waiting the mandatory five-year period from a player’s last game.

Until then, fans can still see Wilson weekly on NFL Sundays, albeit in a different role as a pregame analyst on the CBS show “The NFL Today.”