The Denver Broncos do have a bit of a long-term need at quarterback. Could the team actually try to fix that need this offseason? Russell Wilson's 2022 season was by far the worst of his career. He didn't even throw for 20 touchdown passes and his passer rating was in the mid-80s.
Some have already called for the Broncos to release Wilson. They claim that he's way over the hump and that his best football simply does not exist anymore. Contractually, it would be virtually impossible to move on from Wilson.
However, is there another path that the Broncos could try and take to set up the long-term QB situation?
Well, right off the bat, if there was a crazy enough situation where the team could trade Russell Wilson, they'd have to eat $14 million in dead cap but get $8 million in cap savings.
They'd obviously be "losing" money doing the deal this way, but the finances with a trade are much more digestible than releasing him.
Well, if the team did want to try and facilitate a trade, they'd likely have to include draft picks in the deal for a team to take Wilson's contract off of the Broncos' books.
This would likely cost a high pick or two to actually complete, or even a player or two instead of a pick.
But, who would even consider a deal like this? I think a team that could potentially have interest in Russell Wilson would be the Carolina Panthers, who are now coached by Frank Reich.
Frank Reich has worked with and gotten solid production out of veteran quarterbacks who were much less talented than Wilson, and many of us were vouching for the Broncos to hire Reich for that very reason.
A second team that might fit this bill could be the Washington Commanders, who have the roster but not the quarterback. For each team, Denver would need to get the Panthers' Matt Corrall or the Commanders' Sam Howell in return for the veteran Wilson.
Both were rookies in 2022. Corrall did not play because of a foot injury and Howell saw limited action, but both are very young and do have some desirable qualities that Sean Payton could work with.
I'm not saying, but I'm saying.