Disaster is Denver, The Russell Wilson Saga

By Trevor Speetzen October 26, 2024 12:48

Photo by Getty Images

On March 13th, 2024, the Denver Broncos released quarterback Russell Wilson after a tumultuous two years together. In the time since his release, Wilson signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Broncos drafted quarterback Bo Nix.

So far, the Bo Nix-Sean Payton era in Denver is off to a surprisingly good start. The Broncos are winning football games and the team looks like they’re finally laying down a good foundation for future success.

As for Wilson, his first start with the Steelers came in week 7 against the New York Jets and he led Pittsburgh to a 37-15 victory. In that game, Wilson threw for 264 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and rushed for one touchdown.

So this begs the question, what happened in Denver? Did the move to Denver cause his downfall? Was the change of scenery in Pittsburgh just what Wilson needed?

Let's look back at Russell Wilson’s time with the Denver Broncos.

On March 16, 2022, the Seattle Seahawks traded Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos in exchange for Drew Lock, Noah Fant and Shelby Harris along with two first-round picks and two second-round picks.

Before even taking a snap with the Broncos, Wilson signed a five-year, $245 million contract with Denver. At the same time, the Broncos hired a new head coach in Nathaniel Hackett.

The first season in the Wilson-Hackett era was a complete disaster for Denver. The Broncos finished the 2022 season with a 5-12 record with coach Hackett getting fired after 15 games.

Wilson wasn’t much better for the Broncos during the course of the year. In 15 games, Wilson threw 16 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions and three rushing touchdowns. Wilson also threw for 3,524 passing yards and rushed for 277 yards.

Denver had the worst scoring offense in the league with 287 total points and 16.9 points per game.

Entering 2023, Wilson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee during the 2023 offseason. That same offseason, the Broncos brought Sean Payton out of retirement and named him the new head coach.

Under Payton, the Broncos team as a whole improved and the team was once again playing meaningful games in December. However, Wilson’s play was still underwhelming given how much he was being paid.

Despite starting the year 0-3, and having the devastating 70-20 loss against Miami, the Broncos managed to finish the year 8-9.

While Wilson 26 passing touchdowns and only eight interceptions, he had 500 less passing yards from the year prior with 3,070 passing yards.

Following losses to the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots in week 15 and 16, the Broncos benched Wilson for the final two games of the season to preserve him “financially.”

After finding no trade partners, Denver outright released Wilson at the beginning of the new league year on March 13.

Wilson was then signed by the Steelers and beat out Justin Fields in training camp for the starting quarterback position, but a calf injury caused him to miss the first six games.

In his return against the Jets, Wilson balled out and people have to wonder if the Seahawk-version of Wilson is back or is it just a flash in the pan.