Mr. Unlimited is going to Mile High.
The Denver Broncos landed star Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in a blockbuster trade on Tuesday afternoon.
Denver is sending the Seahawks two first-round picks, two-second round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant, per multiple reports, in return for Wilson and a fourth-round pick.
Denver GM George Paton is going all in, while Seahawks GM John Schneider is reloading and now in need of a quarterback himself.
Wilson has a no-trade clause, so he had to approve the deal for it to go through.
The deal sent shockwaves through the league just hours after Aaron Rodgers decided to remain with the Green Bay Packers. Two of the three biggest quarterback dominoes fell on the same day.
Only the fate of the Houston Texans’ Deshaun Watson remains unknown while embroiled in sexual assault allegations. It’s possible Seattle could try to flip its draft capital for Watson, if he resolves his lawsuits, or that the Philadelphia Eagles could make a splash, though they’ve said publicly recently that they still believe in starter Jalen Hurts.
The Washington Commanders were Tuesday’s biggest losers.
Washington offered Denver high draft picks in the next three NFL drafts, a source said, but Seattle preferred to trade Wilson out of the NFC. That leaves Ron Rivera and Co. eyeing options such as the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo.
Denver hired Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as its new head coach in January with an eye on possibly recruiting Rodgers out West. Instead, Paton laid the groundwork for an earth-shaking deal that morphs the AFC West from a strong division into a league superpower.
The four starting quarterbacks in the division this season will be the Broncos’ Wilson, the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, the Chargers’ Justin Herbert and the Raiders’ Derek Carr. Carr has a new head coach, too, in former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Wilson, 33, won one Super Bowl and went to nine Pro Bowls in 10 seasons with the Seahawks. His play has dipped or been erratic lately, but he’s not far removed from being a midseason MVP candidate in 2020.
It was also time for Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll to go their separate ways.
Wilson tried to force his way out last offseason. The rumor was that Sean Payton and the Saints had eyes for him, and New Orleans landed on Wilson’s preferred list of teams both last spring and this year.
But Payton is retired — at least for now — and Wilson is making his new home where John Elway and Peyton Manning have won Super Bowls.
The NFC now has lost Tom Brady and Wilson in one offseason. Brady stepped away from the game but never technically used the word retirement. If he wanted to play somewhere else — like in San Francisco, for the team he grew up rooting for — this would be the time to do it with Wilson now out of the division.
Von Miller announced on Monday that he was returning to Denver after winning a championship as a rental with the L.A. Rams. And it turns out there was a good reason why: The Broncos were on the cusp of shocking the league.
Former Giants defensive coordinator Pat Graham, now the Las Vegas DC, will face a murderers’ row of QBs six times a year. Graham did beat Wilson on the road in Seattle and clamped down on Mahomes’ Chiefs in KC last year, too, though. So all those games will be must-see TV.
Carroll had said last week at the NFL Combine that the Seahawks had “no intention of making any move there” on a Wilson trade. But behind the scenes, Paton and Schneider quietly were working on a landmark deal. And now Denver is poised to challenge in a loaded AFC.
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