If Justin Fields wins the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback competition coming out of training camp, it might look attractive for the team to attempt to trade veteran Russell Wilson, but unless he goes along with the deal, that might not be possible.
Wilson has a no-trade clause in his contract with the Steelers, Dan Graziano of ESPN reported on Get Up on Wednesday.
“Russell Wilson actually has a no-trade clause in his Steelers contract, which is bizarre at $1.2 million,” Graziano said. “I’ve never seen that before, but it gives him some say in it, right?”
Wilson signed the one-year, veteran-minimum contract with the Steelers after the Denver Broncos took the unprecedented step of releasing him and incurring $85 million in dead cap charges. The Broncos are paying Wilson $39 million this season.
Wilson will get that money from Denver regardless of where he plays in the NFL this season — or even if he doesn’t play. But the fact that he has a no-trade clause means that if the Steelers decide they don’t want to start Wilson, and don’t need him as a back-up, they can’t just ship him off to anywhere.
It’s unusual for a player with such a small contract to have a no-trade clause, and the Steelers give them out infrequently, in general. Wilson’s offset with the Broncos meant there was little teams could do, contract-wise, to attract him to sign. A no-trade clause, however, is one of those things.
