Total Pro Sports
The Denver Broncos have made some of the best trades in NFL history, but they have also made some head-scratching ones that never panned out.
The Broncos gave up a ton for Russell Wilson in 2022-23.
The Seahawks traded Wilson and a 2022 fourth-round draft pick to the Broncos for a 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, a 2022 fifth-round pick, a 2023 first-round pick, a 2023 second-round pick, and three players: tight end Noah Fant, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and quarterback Drew Lock.
The trade details will go down next to other huge trade blunders throughout NFL history.
It was so bad that Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox called it the “Worst NFL Trade of the Last 10 Years” for the franchise.
Before Wilson played a game with the Denver Broncos, they signed him to a five-year extension worth more than $242 million with $161 million guaranteed, according to Spotrac.
Last year, the Denver Broncos released veteran quarterback Russell Wilson and took on an $85 million “dead money” salary cap hit, the largest in NFL history.
“The Denver Broncos’ ill-fated 2022 trade for Russell Wilson has largely been overshadowed by the disastrous deal Cleveland made for Deshaun Watson in the same offseason,” Knox wrote. “However, that doesn’t mean that Denver’s deal was a good one. In fact, the Wilson trade might be considered the worst of the last decade if not for the Watson debacle. The Broncos coughed up two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, and tight end Noah Fant to acquire Wilson and a fourth-round pick. The Broncos then signed Wilson to an extension worth $242.6 million over five years with $161 million guaranteed.”
Wilson struggled badly during the 2022 season and got Nathaniel Hackett fired before his first season was even finished. The Broncos went 5-12. Wilson was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.
He was sacked an NFL-high 55 times and posted a career-worst 84.4 passer rating. He had just 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
The Broncos had struggled to replace Peyton Manning after Manning retired following the 2015 season.
The team hadn’t been to the playoffs since Manning retired.
That finally changed this past season when they played in the Wild card game. Unfortunately, it ended in a blowout.
The franchise would love to make this a regular occurrence, as this was the first playoff appearance since 2015.
