Last offseason, the Denver Broncos sent two first-round picks and two second-round selections to the Seattle Seahawks for Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson. The move didn’t pan out in 2022, with the Broncos stumbling to a 4-11 record with Wilson in the starting lineup.
But at the time of the trade, the Broncos were being hyped up as a potential Super Bowl contender, with many believing many winning pieces were in place. It’s easy to look back with regret now, even if that may be jumping the gun.
Yet, we can’t act like the Broncos were the only team willing to pay a hefty price to acquire Wilson last offseason. In fact, a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport suggests both the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders were willing to trade for Wilson too.
Both scenarios are absolutely fascinating. But we can’t help but be more intrigued by how differently the 2022 NFL season could have gone had the Eagles landed Wilson instead of rolling with Jalen Hurts, who became an MVP finalist.
Would the Eagles have suffered with Wilson missing the playoffs like the Broncos did? What would have happened to Hurts? Would he still have landed in a starting scenario? Would he have competed with Geno Smith in Seattle, who had a breakout Pro Bowl season himself?
It’s incredible to think back at how differently the NFL landscape could be, just one year removed from the Wilson trade. Or how about Washington? Would Wilson have suddenly solved their long-term QB woes? Or would the story be much of the same as we saw in Year One in Denver? Of course, we’ll never know now, but it’s fun to go through the various scenarios.
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