Russell Wilson’s time in Denver is set to come to an end, the perfect ending to a mile high disaster.
Some time ago it felt like Denver had turned things around. Having been through a revolving door of quarterbacks since their Super Bowl win and Peyton Manning’s swan song in 2015, it was hard to find continuity at the quarterback position for the Broncos. Two years ago it might’ve seemed like the team’s fortunes were finally turning around. Years removed from the play of Brock Osweiler and Trevor Siemian, the team put all their chips on the table for a blockbuster deal to get Russell Wilson and sent a slew of draft picks to the Pacific Northwest.
The team hired offensive guru in Nathaniel Hackett to be their head coach for the 2022 season, the same offensive coordinator who was the mastermind behind a top-10 offense in Green Bay whilst mentoring bona fide hall-of-fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. They had all the weapons a seasoned quarterback could want: Jerry Jeudy and Cortland Sutton at receiver, veteran presence on the offensive line, and capable running backs to help set the ground game.
On paper this looked like a team poised to win a Super Bowl, or maybe even multiple. Russell Wilson coming to the Mile High City had shades of a rerun of Peyton Manning coming to Denver from Indianapolis in 2012– a move which brought the team from seasons of mediocrity to a playoff contender every year without doubt. General manager George Paton hoped they’d be getting out of Wilson what they got with Manning, a tried and true veteran who found a way to win. A light at the end of the tunnel for a franchise that has struggled ever since their sharp rise to dominance.
Yet, all they got is a 5-12 season in 2022 and one in dire straits in 2023. This is exactly what Denver sought to avoid when they made the decision to sink so much money into Wilson. Making the move took years of time and a plethora of financial capital in order to get the Super Bowl XLVIII MVP into Colorado, something that George Paton was sure of. In fact, it was at-the-time newly hired head coach Hackett that signed off finally on the marquee choice to trade for Wilson.
When Paton asked him to look at the tape, Hackett anecdotally replied with, “I don’t need to watch the tape. He’s kicked my ass for many years.”
Fair enough, but hindsight is 20/20. It doesn’t take a football expert to know that the Russell Wilson experiment in Denver has been an utter disaster and with the team announcing that they will bench Wilson for the remainder of the 2023 season and cut ties with him in March at the beginning of the new season. It’s a sunk cost for the Broncos– exemplified by the fact that they chalked the benching and inevitable release of Russell Wilson as a move for “financial flexibility”, a term that’s ironic when you truly dig deeper.
The Denver Broncos went all in for Wilson, sending five total draft picks and three players to Seattle, including their starting quarterback at the time Drew Lock (who engineered a masterful game winning drive against the Philadelphia Eagles this season. In return they got the man they wanted, ignored blatant red flags with his play and stuck him with a rookie head coach that’s been used to a different type of quarterback style his entire tenure in Green Bay.
When it comes to financial flexibility, Denver went all in– assuring that they wouldn’t have any because they were banking on all their chips to hit with Wilson. Knowing Wilson’s talent was in skyfall, they placed a $245 million, five year extension– locking him down and committing the team to the 35 year-old for the foreseeable future. Plenty of trade deals have gone south in NFL history, speaking to the likes of Ricky Williams making the Saints give up their whole draft or the Browns sending three first round picks to Houston for Deshaun Watson. However, none of them were tied to a deteriorating, veteran quarterback over the age of 30, and surely none of them will undoubtedly be in cap space hell after they get rid of them.
If Denver cuts Wilson prior to March 17th, they’d incur a dead cap hit of $85 million to be spread out over two years, nearly 38% of the 2023 salary cap. This astronomical amount is the hole the Broncos have dug themselves into, but the entire debacle is a testament to the story of the Denver Broncos this season alone.
Nathaniel Hackett out, Sean Payton in. Following the same philosophy as the Hackett hiring, Paton wanted a head coach with expertise working with a high-level quarterback. Bring Payton out of retirement, the Super Bowl XLIV winning head coach seemed like the perfect fit having mentored Drew Brees and building the New Orleans Saints into a playoff-contending dynasty. That same MO was supposed to be achieved in Denver. Set up Russell Wilson with a talented head coach with plenty of wins underneath his belt to try and recreate what the quarterback had in Seattle with Pete Carroll.
The issue quickly became that Sean Payton’s style of play tends to differ from Wilson’s. Proven by a 1-5 record to start the year, Payton never truly worked with Russell Wilson’s skillset. Drew Brees in New Orleans was a pocket-passing gunslinger, not typical of today’s NFL offense. Routine throws in time with solidified plays have always been part of Payton’s playbook, but Wilson’s aptness to scramble and extend the play do not align with his head coach’s.
“I can tell you, look, we’re desperately trying to win,” the head coach said, via 9News Sports in Denver. “The No. 1 push behind this, and it’s a decision I’m making, is to provide a spark offensively. Obviously it’s difficult, and all of us feel like ‘man, we didn’t do well enough,’ but one of the things we saw when we signed [Jarrett] Stidham in the offseason, not only from preseason games but regular-season games, but he’s a guy I’m excited to see play. If I didn’t feel like he gave us the chance to win, we wouldn’t be making that move.”
Bring in the fact that the Broncos did not splurge on the offensive line, nor has a top-ten squad, Wilson has to normally step outside the pocket, he’s attempted 368 passes outside the tackles– it was never meant to mesh well with steadfast mantra of Payton. When the team made a comeback this year to place themselves in playoff position after an abysmal start, it felt like things were finally falling into place. Wilson looked like his classic self, still being able to sling it yards downfield, but through all the hype that the Broncos got throughout the season– something still felt off.
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It now has became apparent that the team was carried by the defense. Look past the 70-20 loss in Miami and you’ll see a world class defense with a striking resemblance of the “No Fly Zone” squadron that won the Super Bowl in the 2015 season alongside Manning. The offense was barely hanging on along for the ride. The offense had a passing success rate of only 43.3% ranking 20th in the league along with Wilson being sacked on 9.1% of all passing attempts– ranking 7th in the NFL. Looking at stats alone helps put into perspective how much of a failure the Denver Broncos season has been. The team that wanted to make amends and turn what has been an embarrassing stretch around, has once again fallen into the money pit.
The Broncos are also among the league’s worst in third-down production and goal-to-situations as well as 22nd in the red zone. The Broncos will also likely finish without a 1,000-yard receiver for the fourth consecutive season and will probably miss the playoffs for the eighth.
The slim chance that the Broncos will make the playoffs has turned into praying for a miracle, forcing Payton to make a change under center. Jarrett Stidham will start for the next two games, a move that can be seen as an audition opportunity for the quarterback that has shown flashes. As Payton said and aforementioned, the QB played well late last season in a game against the 49ers to close out the season.
“As a head coach, you’ve got to make some tough decisions and they won’t always be right,” Sean Payton said of the quarterback change. “They just won’t. You go with your gut and your instincts.”
You can blame Russell Wilson for not playing up to par, pin the benching on a contract detail that forces Denver to pay $37 million if Wilson gets hurt these next two games, look at Payton’s inability to master a functioning offense, or the front office for not getting Wilson enough help. No matter which way you look at it, one bull doesn’t make the whole rodeo bad. If the Broncos do choose to hit the reset button– it’s clear to say that the 2023 season has been a failed year. Then, we must ask ourselves the question, how many times will Denver hit that button?
“We need a spark. We need something right now,” Payton said. “We’ll handle the long term when we get there.”
