This might be the saddest stat about Russell Wilson's time with Broncos

The Russell Wilson era is officially over for the Denver Broncos. What started as a trade that fans were pumped about ended in disappointing fashion, as the Broncos finished with a losing record in both of Wilson's seasons as the starting quarterback and his time in Denver has come to a close.

A lot will be said about this trade and how the Seahawks ended up fleecing the Broncos but at the time, it felt like a solid move for Denver. They appeared to be a quarterback away from competing so adding Wilson felt like the missing piece. Unfortunately, Wilson wasn't the same guy that he had been in Seattle and now the Broncos are moving on despite having to eat $85 million in dead money now that he won't be on the roster.

The most depressing stat of all, however, is that the Broncos released Wilson before his five-year contract extension even kicked in. Talk about a bad trade, especially considering the Seahawks ended up landing two top-10 picks as a result of how bad the Broncos ended up being.

Russell Wilson never played a game on his new contract.

Now that the Russell Wilson era is over, the Broncos will once again be looking for a new quarterback. They've been linked to Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy frequently and he could make sense for them as a first-round pick. They're in a pretty bad cap situation but still could make a play for a free agent quarterback such as Kirk Cousins or Baker Mayfield.

The Broncos took a chance on Wilson, who had been one of the top quarterbacks in the league before coming to Denver. It didn't work out and they're going to be paying the price for quite some time.