The Denver Broncos are on the right track heading into the 2025 NFL Draft and could be on the cusp of becoming a contender. The team's decision to bench and then cut Russell Wilson seemed a bit unpopular among many Broncos fans and among folks all over the NFL landscape.
The team then stuck to their guns in the 2024 NFL Draft and took Bo Nix, the sixth and final QB who went in the first round of that draft. However, the verdict on Nix was mixed. Many people said he was a late first, second-round type pf prospect.
Some people (many people) simply did not think he was going to be a viable NFL QB. Heck, even some Broncos fans did not like the selection. Well, Sean Payton and George Paton clearly knew what they were doing and were able to put a viable process in place to arrive at the QB conclusion they landed on.
Nix and the Broncos shocked the NFL world in 2024, won 10 games, and made the postseason. The former Oregon Duck threw for the fifth-most touchdown passes in the NFL during his rookie season and had 35 total touchdowns, carving out one of the best rookie QB seasons in NFL history. Well, when you look at the 2025 NFL Draft and the QB talent within it, it's abundantly clear just how much of a bullet the Broncos dodged.
The Broncos made the move at the right time
Part of me almost wonders if the Denver Broncos would have actually kept Russell Wilson on the roster if the QB class in the 2024 NFL Draft wasn't projected to be all that good. Perhaps Sean Payton and George Paton saw how deep it was expected to be and used that as part of their decision to cut Russell Wilson.
On paper, Wilson had a 98 passer rating and was responsible for 29 total touchdowns in 2023, so you'd think that he played well, right? That wasn't the case, as the passing attack was not sustainable.
While the financial fallout from cutting Wilson was huge, it was the right move, as Denver capitalized on the deep QB class, found their guy, and now will not have to deal with the insanely weak QB class in the 2025 NFL Draft. Denver may have had to get ultra-creative to find a QB solution had they kept Russell Wilson on the team through the 2024 NFL Season.
It's simply a bad year to need a franchise QB, so teams like the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, and others are going to have a tough time finding someone viable. The Broncos dug themselves out of the QB abyss just in time.