Quarterback Russell Wilson has been released by the Denver Broncos after just two seasons with the team. Wilson was traded to the Broncos in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks in March 2022. The contract was for five years, $242.6 million, with $161 million guaranteed.
The Broncos now have 85 million dollars in dead money. This is going to be a hefty cap hit.
Statements That Didn’t Age Well
When the Broncos acquired Russell Wilson, general manager George Paton said,
“It’s just unique you can trade for a franchise quarterback in his prime.”
Well, that statement didn’t age very well now, did it? It seems like both of those claims about Wilson aren’t true. The former Super Bowl champion is 35 and it looks like his best days are behind him. When “dangeruss” joined the Broncos, he made very ambitious intentions,
“My goal is to play 10 or 12 more years and hopefully win three or four more Super Bowls. That’s the plan. That’s the mindset.”
If that is still the “plan” and “mindset”, things are gonna have to change real fast. His stats in the past two seasons with the Broncos haven’t been terrible.
There are certainly worse quarterbacks than Wilson, who are still on NFL teams (Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Sam Howell, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson). Zach Wilson and Sam Howell both have as many interceptions as they do touchdowns thrown the past two seasons. Russell Wilson has thrown 42 touchdowns and 19 interceptions in the past two seasons. Will all of these players have a starting job come next season? Most likely not, but they are on an NFL roster, and Russell Wilson is not a nine-time Pro Bowl selection.
Why The Broncos Are Moving On From Russell Wilson
When you look at Wilson’s performance on paper the past two seasons, especially this season, it’s not terrible. It doesn’t automatically make you think that this guy should be released. However, he doesn’t make many big-money plays when you pay a quarterback 242.6 million dollars with so much guaranteed money at $161 million. Plus, your team didn’t make it to the playoffs in either of the QBs’ first two years. That’s a problem. The main issue with Wilson was that he did not play up to the level people (especially the Broncos) thought he would.
Seahawks fleeced lmfao
— ??.????? ? ? ?? (@CookedByRiley0) March 4, 2024
Is it worth having 85 million dollars in dead money over the duration of Wilson’s contract? I don’t know. I’m not an NFL general manager or owner. For the 2024 season, the Broncos will be paying Russell Wilson 35.4 million dollars. That is around 13.8% of their cap space, a lot for a player who will not be on the roster.
Russell Wilson’s Bad 1st Season
This could be attributed to bad coaching and game management by then-head coach Nathaniel Hackett. Hackett was so bad that he was fired before his first season could even come to an end. Even so, Hackett wasn’t the one who threw 16 touchdowns to 11 interceptions and got sacked a whopping 55 times. Wilson’s sack numbers made him the 20th most sacked player in a single season in NFL History. Wilson’s first game with the Broncos was the high point; he threw for 340 yards. He would never throw for that many yards with the team again. Wilson finished the season with 3,524 yards, a completion percentage of 60.5, and a QBR of 84.4. The Broncos finished with a record of 5-12, a far cry of the division winning hopefuls the NFL world put them as.
Russell Wilson’s Better 2nd Season
Wilson’s 2023 season was better than his first season in Denver. He recorded 3,070 yards, 26 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, a QBR of 98.0, and a completion percentage of 66.4. This is not a bad stat line. But it wasn’t good enough. The Broncos finished 8-9 and still failed to make the playoffs.
Before the season started, new head coach Sean Payton criticized Nathaniel Hackett’s coaching of the team, saying
“It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
While Payton was not wrong with this statement, it wasn’t a classy thing to do and not how you want to be seen as a head coach. You don’t get respected by bashing other coaches. This was a sign that the Broncos weren’t destined for a good season, even with a new coach.
The Broncos started 0-3. One of the losses included the 70-20 debacle against the Dolphins. Just when the Broncos and their fans thought this team couldn’t get worse, they did.
In Week 6, Wilson failed to throw for over a hundred yards for only the third time in his career.
Christmas Eve Was Rock Bottom For The Broncos’ Season
Besides the 50-point loss, The Bronco’s worst loss might have been the narrow defeat against the 4-13 Patriots on Christmas Eve. Both teams played fairly uninspiring football. It took a 56-yard field goal by below-average kicker Chad Ryland to hand the Broncos the loss. (I’m a Patriots fan, so I can bash them and the players all I want).
It was the opposite of a Christmas miracle for the Broncos. The Patriots had struggled to score points all season, but they managed to score 25 points, their second most of the season. Perhaps the 70-20 loss wasn’t the rock bottom of their season; this was. Sure, getting blown out by 50 is obviously never fun, but at least it was a fairly good team in the Dolphins who did it against them. The measly 2023 New England Patriots scored 25 on the Russell Wilson-led Broncos on Christmas Eve at Mile High. This was coal for the Broncos fans who were in attendance in their stadium on that 27-degree night.
Wilson was sacked five times. The Broncos punted seven times. They went 4-13 on third down.
This was a crucial blow to the Broncos’ playoff chances. They were in the running for a wild card spot, but those chances plummeted after this brutal loss. One week later, the Broncos were eliminated from playoff contention.
2023 was their seventh consecutive losing season and their 8th in a row missing the playoffs. Russell Wilson leaves the team with an 11-19 record after three head coaches (including interim Jerry Rosburg), two offensive coordinators, two losing seasons, two playoff misses, 42 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, 7 lost fumbles, and 100 sacks. For a guy who’s supposed to be mobile, he couldn’t get away from the defense very much.
Russell Wilson’s Optimism
What was your favorite memory during the Russell Wilson in Denver era?
Mine is when he did high knees in the aisle on the plane to London while the whole team was asleep
— Denver Broncos 365 (@DailyBroncos) March 4, 2024
Russ doesn’t sound too broken up about his departure from the Broncos. At the end of his statement posted on Instagram, he said,
“Tough times don’t last, but tough people do. God’s got me. I am excited for what’s next.”
The Seahawks Won This Trade
Seahawks fans watching the Broncos fall apart even further from the Wilson trade pic.twitter.com/WkNQDfUQsi
— le spoon (@FDT4EVUR) March 4, 2024
The Seahawks got:
- 2022 first-round pick
- 2022 second-round pick
- 2022 fifth-round pick
- 2023 first-round pick
- 2023 second-round pick
- TE Noah Fant
- QB Drew Lock
- Shelby Harris
The Broncos got:
- Russell Wilson
- 2022 fourth-round pick
Geno Smith had a slightly similar season to Wilson in 2023, but he threw for 554 more yards at 3,624 yards.
In 2022, Smith threw for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and had a QBR of 100.9. That is 14 more touchdowns than Wilson threw, five fewer interceptions, and 758 more passing yards. Geno Smith is looking like more of a franchise quarterback for Seattle than Russell Wilson was for Denver. Geno Smith wasn’t even on a team for several years before the 2022 season, and now he’s doing better than a nine-time Pro Bowl player and Super Bowl winner? It’s wild how things work out like that sometimes.
The Seahawks drafted top rookie defensive back Devon Witherspoon with their 2023 first-round pick. Witherspoon was a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year in the 2024 NFL Honors.
Needless to say, the Broncos got fleeced in this trade, although they didn’t know it at the time.
Broncos Country, Let’s Ride? Oh Wait, We Ran Out Of Gas
There was wolverine blood, high knees — and of course, "Let's Ride"
Looking back on the moments Russell Wilson gave Broncos Country ?? pic.twitter.com/E5CHFNqupe
— Quentin Sickafoose (@QSickafoose) March 5, 2024
#BroncosCountry , LET’S RIDE! pic.twitter.com/7rTOZ1uIhx
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) June 2, 2022
This meme was the most impactful part of the quarterback’s time in Denver. Russell Wilson being traded to the Broncos will go down as one of the worst transactions in NFL history. It looks like Broncos Country didn’t ride like Russ intended.
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