Former Wisconsin fullback retires from the NFL

Former Wisconsin fullback retires from the NFL

Former Wisconsin Badgers fullback Derek Watt announced his retirement from the NFL Tuesday morning.

Watt played seven years in the league — four with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers and three with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The fullback retires with 29 total carries, 71 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 18 receptions, 178 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

Related: The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to be a popular home for former Wisconsin Badgers

The talented fullback played for the Badgers from 2012-2015, totaling 369 scrimmage yards and one touchdown. His two brothers, T.J. and J.J. Watt, each became Wisconsin legends in their own right, then went on to have Hall of Fame-level NFL Careers. While Derek Watt’s career does not rise to that level, a seven-year career at a position that is becoming a thing of the past is no joke.

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Buffalo Bills sign former Wisconsin offensive lineman to contract extension

Buffalo Bills sign former Wisconsin offensive lineman to contract extension

The first day of NFL free agency wasn’t all about reported deals with stars from around the sport. There were contract extensions as well.

One of them: former Wisconsin offensive lineman David Edwards signed a 2-year $6 million extension with the Buffalo Bills.

Edwards is entering his sixth NFL season, the first four coming with the Los Angeles Rams where he was a member of their 2021 Super Bowl-winning team. He signed a one-year deal with the Bills entering the 2023 season, and now is re-upped after a strong season.

The former Wisconsin lineman committed to the Badgers as a tight end in 2014. He then converted to offensive line and spent 2015-2018 in the program, starting in 2017 and 2018. He was a big piece of the program’s stellar 2017 team, led by the nation’s best offensive line. 2018 was a step back, but Edwards was still selected in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.

He projects as Buffalo’s starting left guard for the second consecutive season.

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Former Wisconsin linebacker gets big payday with Minnesota Vikings

Former Wisconsin linebacker gets big payday with Minnesota Vikings

Former Wisconsin linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel agreed to a 2-year, $20 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday afternoon.

The five-year veteran was a 5th-round pick of the Dolphins back in 2019. He’s spent his entire career in Miami thus far, serving as a significant part of the Dolphins’ defense since the 2020 season.

Related: Braelon Allen gives his all-time Wisconsin running back Mount Rushmore

The former Badger is off a stellar 2023 campaign which included 69 tackles, eight tackles for loss, 19 quarterback hits, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Van Ginkel played at Wisconsin in 2017 and 2018 after transferring from Iowa Western. While he recorded 98 tackles and 12.0 sacks in two years as a Badger, no play was more memorable than his pick-six off Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett in the 2017 Big Ten Championship Game.

He now gets job security and an impressive contract with a Minnesota team desperately looking for defensive improvements.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to be a popular home for former Wisconsin Badgers

Can you name all six former Badgers currently on the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday evening, sending shockwaves through the NFL as the first big domino of the free-agent period.

Wilson will make just $1.2 million over the one-year deal from the Steelers — that while somehow still getting paid $39 million per year from the Broncos.

Related: Pre-spring bold predictions for the 2024 Big Ten football season

For Pittsburgh, the former Badger is an easy upgrade over Kenny Pickett and should make the Steelers contenders in the AFC North. For Wilson, this move was a badly-needed second chance after the disaster his tenure in Denver became.

The non-Wilson story here: the former Wisconsin signal-caller became yet another former Badger to join the Steelers. Here are all of those players now, up to a whopping total of six:

Former Wisconsin linebacker gets second chance with Philadelphia Eagles

Former Wisconsin linebacker gets second chance with Philadelphia Eagles

Former Wisconsin linebacker Zack Baun plans to sign a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Baun was a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints back in 2020, but struggled to carve out a consistent role on the Saints’ defense. The former Badger played primarily on special teams, never playing more than 27% of the team’s snaps on the defensive unit.

Related: Where Wisconsin QB Tyler Van Dyke falls on Fanduel’s 2024 Heisman Trophy odds

That said, 2023 was the best year for the former Badger. Baun recorded 30 total tackles, four tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, two passes deflected, an interception and a forced fumble all in limited playing time.

The Eagles are giving Baun a second chance to find a consistent role. The team recently saw star defensive lineman Fletcher Cox announce his retirement and are reportedly shopping top edge rushers Hassan Reddick and Josh Sweat.

Maybe it’s just on special teams, but the Eagles seem to see something in the Wisconsin product. He’ll look to join a long list of former Badgers to find success in Philadelphia, some of those including RB Corey Clement, DL Beau Allen, S Chris Maragos and CB Troy Vincent.

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Former Wisconsin center signs with Washington Commanders

Former Wisconsin center signs with Washington Commanders

Former Wisconsin Badgers and Dallas Cowboys center Tyler Biadasz agreed to a three-year deal with the Washington Commanders Monday afternoon.

A fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft, Biadasz started 47 games for the Cowboys over the past three seasons and earned a Pro Bowl nod for his stellar 2022 campaign. 

With roughly $96 million in cap space, the Commanders added Biadasz to improve a bottom-tier offensive line from 2023. Biadasz ranks among the NFL’s elite in terms of pressure rate, something critical in a division littered with spectacular athletes on the defensive line. 

Biadasz started at center in all 41 games of his Wisconsin career and was awarded the Rimington Trophy in 2019, recognizing the best center in college football.

Most notably, the Amherst, Wisconsin native, played his entire college career blocking for two-time Doak Walker Award winner Jonathan Taylor, one of the most celebrated running backs in UW history. 

The acquisition of Biadasz could pay dividends for first-year head coach Dan Quinn with Brian Robinson Jr. budding in the backfield and a rookie quarterback projected to start under center. 

Former Wisconsin quarterback finds new home with title contender

Former Badgers quarterback finds new home with storied franchise

The Russell Wilson saga in the NFL has been an ongoing story for a few years and he’ll now reportedly get a fresh start with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The former Badger will officially be released by the Broncos on Wednesday, when he will sign with Mike Tomlin’s squad for a veteran minimum $1.21 million. The rest of his 2024 salary, approximately $38 million, will come from Denver’s checkbook.

Wilson had a much better second season with the Broncos in 2023, recording 3,070 passing yards and 28 touchdowns while only throwing eight interceptions over 15 contests. His relationship with the team soured as a result of poor results in the win column as well as his unwillingness to revisit his contract.

Now at the age of 35, it’s possible that the quarterback will be given his last chance to be a starter in the NFL, joining a Steelers squad that made the postseason in 2023 with a 10-7 overall record.

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Social media reacts to Denver Broncos’ unprecedented release of Wisconsin legend Russell Wilson

What was your reaction to Wilson’s release?

The Denver Broncos released former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson Monday afternoon.

The move is unprecedented after the franchise traded a king’s ransom for Wilson before the 2022 season, and now must absorb a cap hit of more than $80 million.

Related: Pre-spring bold predictions for the 2024 Big Ten football season

The former Badger went 11-19 in two years in Denver, throwing for a combined 6594 yards and 42 touchdowns, while adding 618 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground.

He now hits the open market after playing on a near-Hall-of-Fame trajectory with the Seattle Seahawks, appearing in two Super Bowls and winning one. The years in Denver saw a regression in play, but there’s a chance his MVP candidate form could return in the right location.

NFL pundits and Broncos fans alike were amazed by the news, and especially by his gigantic cap hit. Here is how social media reacted to Wilson’s release:

Former Badger still holds impressive mark at the NFL Combine

Former Badger still holds impressive mark at the NFL Combine

The NFL scouting combine is approaching quickly and will begin Monday, February 26, in Indianapolis. As the event is right around the corner, a former Badger still remains in the top echelon in the combine’s Broad Jump event.

A defensive back with the Badgers from 2001-2005, Scott Starks set an impressive mark in the broad jump in 2005. He was able to record a mark of 11-feet 5-inches, which still sits as the fifth longest distance in combine history.

The Badgers will have a few players at this season’s combine, including running back Braelon Allen, who will likely impress in a handful of different areas in Indianapolis.

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Former NFL executive has an insane idea for Wisconsin legend Russell Wilson’s next step

This idea was insane

It is rare we write up the comments made on ESPN’s ‘Get Up,’ ‘First Take,’ or other similar shows.

First, the shows don’t talk nearly enough about college football for our taste. But second, the stupidity rarely crosses into the threshold of Wisconsin Badgers athletics.

Well, on Monday it did. Former NFL executive Mike Tannenbaum shared the following idea on Get Up for former Badger Russell Wilson’s next step after leaving the Broncos.

Related: Ranking the Big Ten head football coaches entering the 2024 season

“I think he would be a great fit with New York [Jets], and here’s why,” Tannenbaum said. His partners on the show reacted with appropriate disgust before he continued to say “pay him a million dollars and let him resurrect his career. I actually have experience with this, Vinny Testaverde got cut by the Baltimore Ravens, we signed him in June and went to the championship game that year. So, if you’re Russell Wilson…where else is he going to go? He has to resurrect his career, so if you have to sit for a year why not sit for a year behind one of the greatest of all time and then be a free agent again. Where is he going to go? He’s 36 years old. Nobody’s going to hand him a starting job. He’s going to have to be a backup somewhere.”

Here’s the full video, for context:

It’s easy to dissect why this is a terrible idea.

First, Tannenbaum said it, Wilson is 36 years old. He only has a few years of football left, so it would be foolish to spend one of them on the bench. Look around the NFL, there are far worse quarterbacks than Wilson starting for teams — Tommy DeVito, Derek Carr, Sam Howell, Josh Dobbs, Mason Rudolph to just name a few. The Wisconsin legend should get one final shot at leading a team under center.

Second, and more important in my eyes, who wants to back up Aaron Rodgers? Of all the starters in the NFL, Rodgers might be the one I’d want to back-up the least if I were Wilson. The only positive is he may get injured again, leading to quicker playing time. But Rodgers is a challenging person to work with by all accounts, which would make life tough on someone like Wilson looking for another shot.

Tannenbaum was an NFL executive for more than a decade, so there is some basis behind his opinions. I think he’s way off on this one — which the football community on ‘X’ agrees with. Wilson needs to find a starting job to try to resurrect his career, not a backup job behind a quarterback like Rodgers.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.