Russell Wilson was not the first choice for the Broncos

The Denver Broncos’ marriage with new starting quarterback Russell Wilson has been messy and depressing for fans to watch as things just have not worked out to this point.

That’s an understatement. And this is a marriage that won’t end in a quick divorce due to the contract extension the team quickly gave Wilson following the blockbuster trade this offseason.

But what is starting to become clearer is that the Broncos settled for Wilson and that the first choice of the front office was Aaron Rodgers. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, executives around the league are convinced of this.

And that would have made sense, especially with Nathaniel Hackett becoming the team’s new head coach. Though it would have taken quite the package to acquire the league’s back-to-back MVP, that wouldn’t have looked any worse than the one it took to get Wilson, which is looking like an all-time worst trade right now.

As rumors of Rodgers being traded during the offseason heated up, news broke in March that the Green Bay Packers were going to be his team for the 2022 season. On March 16, he officially agreed to terms on a 3-year, $150.8 contract extension that included over $100 million guaranteed.

That same day, the Seattle Seahawks agreed to trade Wilson to the Broncos. It seemed at the time a lateral move due to Wilson’s perceived value and the constant talk that the Broncos were just a quarterback away, but in hindsight, it looks like an absolute panic move.

Wilson has been atrocious and the blame for that can be placed in many areas, but mostly, it just seems that he is not a good fit for whatever Hackett is trying to do. A Rodgers trade made sense, the Wilson deal has shown to be a bad move.

Would the Broncos be 3-8 and have the worst offense in football had they traded for Rodgers instead of Wilson? I’d confidently say no. I’d be equally confident in saying that they wouldn’t even be this bad if they just kept what they had in place.

Had they done that, they would still have their top two picks in the upcoming draft as well.

General manager George Paton made a big move to put his team in a spot to contend. Though it hasn’t worked out, you can still applaud him for being willing to take a shot. However, the flip side of that coin is he needs to make an equally bold move to cover up for such a bad set of decisions.

If he even gets that chance.