When the Denver Broncos traded for Russell Wilson two years ago, many fans and observers got excited and were quick to peg the Broncos as instant Super Bowl contenders. But that’s not exactly what happened.
Two years later, it is clear the Wilson experiment in Denver was a failure, and it led to the team releasing Wilson this offseason, allowing him to subsequently join the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On the other hand, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report pushed back on that narrative and even called the release of Wilson an overreaction.
“Two coaches and two offenses in two seasons and you bail on a future Hall of Famer who isn’t far past his prime?” wrote Gagnon. “You’re now stuck with that bill for years to come?
“The Broncos would have been better off riding it out with Wilson for at least one more season to see if he could mesh better with Sean Payton. He did show signs of that at times in 2023.”
Yes, Wilson played a lot better in 2023 than he did in 2022, which was his first season in Denver.
In his first season there, he was terrible, at least by his standards, and so was his team’s offense. Last season, on the other hand, he threw for 3,070 yards and 26 touchdowns while completing 66.4 percent of his pass attempts.
However, his 6.9 yards per pass attempt ranked in the bottom half of the league and was the lowest of his career. Many noted that although his aggregate numbers were fine, he didn’t look as free or confident as he was during his first 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
There were also times he didn’t seem to get along extremely well with head coach Sean Payton.
One could make the argument that it was a mistake for the Broncos to trade for Wilson in the first place. While Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy were a nice wide receiver duo for them the last two years, they have just one Pro Bowl selection between them, and neither is a truly game-changing threat.
When a team trades for a great but aging QB such as Wilson, it needs to have the talent in place right away to make a serious run at the Super Bowl. Denver simply didn’t have the talent in place, especially on offense.
Then there is the matter of the cost of getting Wilson. The team gave up three players and five draft picks to get the future Hall of Famer. One of those draft picks has yielded Devon Witherspoon, a cornerback who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2023.
To make matters worse, Denver gave Russell Wilson a five-year, $245 million contract extension shortly after landing him. Over the next two years, it will have $85 million in dead cap money because it took a chance on him.
