Why was Russell Wilson traded to the Denver Broncos?

Star quarterback Russell Wilson is playing his first season with a team other than the Seattle Seahawks. After playing ten seasons with the Seahawks, he was traded to the Denver Broncos ahead of the 2022 season. The trade came as a shocker, but the Seahawks had planned this move.

The 2022 NFL season had an interesting Week 1 matchup. The Broncos traveled to play Seattle at Lumen Field, which was once the home field for Wilson.

The Seahawks defeated the Broncos in a close game 16-15. Not the start Wilson would have hoped for, losing on his former team's home ground. Moving forward, the Broncos recovered from their first loss of the season by winning the next two games against the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers.

What led Russell Wilson to switch sides to the Denver Broncos?

Russell Wilson - San Francisco 49ers v Denver Broncos

The Seahawks had been looking for alternatives to their starting quarterback position since 2017. They had their eyes on young QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Baker Mayfield. While they couldn't acquire any of them, Wilson's agent, Mark Rodgers, found out about the inquiries.

This started an uneasy relationship between the two sides. Wilson has had a successful career with the Seattle Seahawks and even won them the Super Bowl in February 2014. In his ten-year tenure, he threw for 37,059 yards with 292 touchdowns and 87 interceptions.

The Seahawks later extended his contract to four more years in 2019, but still, there were unresolved issues. Wilson took his side to the playoffs in 2019 and 2020 but was not happy with how things were going within the team. During the 2021 offseason, he publicly complained about the team's offensive line performances.

Also, the 2021 season was not the best one for Wilson, and Seattle finally decided to trade Russell Wilson. A Seahawks front-office source told ESPN -

“I just felt like he’s a descending player. Is he going to be able to be a true pocket passer at the end of his career and just stand there and drop the ball off to his check-downs? He’s never done that. I can’t tell you he’s going to be able to do that.”

Denver were quick to move in for the quarterback. In exchange, they sent Seattle the following: two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive tackle Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant.

Russell Wilson's contract with the Denver Broncos

Wilson will remain with the Broncos until the 2028 season and will earn around $296 million as his contract was extended in September. He will get an average salary of $49 million. He has two years left from his previous deal, which will get him $24 million and $27 million respectively, over the next two years.

He was brought in with the hope of winning a Super Bowl in the near future. Denver have a very strong side and could well challenge this season. We will see if Russell Wilson can lead them to glory in the coming months.

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