Denver Broncos' trade for QB Zach Wilson was completely unnecessary

With Denver Broncos OTAs officially coming to a conclusion, the team continues to work toward their decision of which quarterback will be the opening-day starter. Through three weeks of practice, Denver's coaching staff rotated each of their three quarterbacks day-by-day with the first, second, and third team offenses. On the final day of OTA practices (viewable to the media), quarterback Zach Wilson received his opportunity to impress coaches with the first-team offense before the beginning of mandatory minicamp on June 11th.

Unfortunately for Wilson, team periods and 7-on-7s did not go his way. According to Broncos radio host for KOA Sports, Ryan Edwards, Wilson reportedly "struggled" with pressure and could not find much of a rhythm at all. The former second-overall pick was also intercepted by starting safety P.J. Locke and overall had a "pretty rough" day.

Rewind a few months, the Broncos and New York Jets agreed to a trade that sent Denver's 203rd overall pick for Wilson and the 256th pick in the draft. The pick swap was a staggering 53-pick difference from the sixth to the seventh round in order for Denver to acquire Wilson for quarterback competition. While the idea of trading for a young, raw quarterback to come in and provide immediate competition to the room was a smart one, the move was just simply not needed.

With how poorly Wilson has performed to start Denver's offseason activities, there is reason to be upset with the trade even if the Broncos gave up essentially "nothing" in the acquisition. Wilson has by far the most NFL starts in Denver's quarterback room but up to this point has performed like the rookie in the room. Generally, not all sixth-round picks are going to translate to the NFL, however, it appears that if the Broncos had retained their very early sixth-round pick from the trade and selected a position of need, then that rookie likely would have had a better chance of making the team's active roster than Zach Wilson.

Yes, the backup quarterback position is important in the NFL, but Wilson has not pushed Jarrett Stidham or Bo Nix up to this point and you can even make the argument that former Broncos quarterback Ben DiNucci would be more serviceable in the room. There is still a lot of football to be played in the remainder of Denver's offseason, therefore the narrative could change. However, as of this moment, the trade for Zach Wilson was just not worth moving back 53 picks in the draft.