Examining Why Broncos' GM Extended Russell Wilson so Early

Why did Denver Broncos' GM George Paton pay Russell Wilson before he ever played a down in Orange and Blue?

During the 2022 offseason, the Denver Broncos made headlines when they acquired Russell Wilson in a blockbuster trade.

Fast forward to just before the start of the 2022 season, as the Walton-Penner ownership group formally takes over. General manager George Paton finalizes a new contract extension for Wilson, giving him $165 million in guaranteed money and effectively tying the QB to the Broncos through the 2025 season.

After eight games, Wilson has had a disappointing season overall. At times he's made good plays, but he's made plenty of bad ones, too. Some of it goes back to coaching, but some of it goes back to Wilson wanting to run plays that don't fit his strengths.

The decision to give Wilson that extension now looks like a mistake, which begs the question: What might Paton have been thinking when he agreed to that extension?

And then it begs another question: What comes next now that the Broncos are tied to Wilson for the foreseeable future?

Why did Wilson get Extended?

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I've written previously about the decision to extend Wilson and have two opinions that might appear to be in conflict.

I'm of the mindset that it was better to wait until after the 2022 season to extend Wilson, so the Broncos could get an idea about where things stood with him. However, I did write, after Wilson signed his extension, that the Broncos would have to pay Wilson at some point.

My thinking boils down to this: It was better for the Broncos to wait on an extension so they could get an idea about how much he was really worth. However, the draft capital Denver gave up indicated that Paton saw Wilson as a player he wanted to be part of the Broncos for the long term.

Thus, I believed an extension would eventually happen, but I that it was best to wait until after the 2022 season to know what Wilson should get in an extension.

However, if Paton believed that Wilson would be part of the long-term, it would explain why the GM got the extension done before the start of the season, even though the veteran signal-caller still had two years left on his original deal.

The public reasoning given was that Paton wanted to explain to the new owners how contracts worked. But that doesn't make sense, considering that the Broncos signed multiple players during free agency.

A more likely explanation is that the new owners wanted to commit to Wilson as much as Paton did, and Paton waited so he could determine how much money he could give Wilson in an extension. Regardless, there were signs that indicated that Paton believed Wilson has plenty left in the tank and could be part of the long-term moving forward.

While Wilson has had his struggles, when he plays to his strengths, he has shown he can get it done more often than not. It's when the Broncos get away from what Wilson does best that his play has been worse.

I'm not convinced that Wilson is in an irreversible decline. The Broncos need to play more to his strengths. 

And that means two things must happen: 

1. Head coach Nathaniel Hackett must adjust the offense to Wilson's strengths.
2. Wilson must accept he can't keep doing the things that don't work for him.

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What it Means Going Forward

DenverBroncos.com

The Broncos don't have a way to get out of Wilson's contract in 2023, whether it's a cut or a trade. The Broncos could get out of it if Wilson retires, but they'd have to do some tricks so they could have his retirement official after June 1, because it's the only way to spread out the dead money hit.

In 2024, the Broncos could get out of the deal via trade, but it would have to be done before the option bonus or the dead money kick in. Furthermore, the Broncos would deal with a large dead-money hit. What's more, that's dependent on another team wanting to trade for Wilson.

Therefore, the best thing the Broncos can do is ride it out with Wilson for the next few years. That means building the team properly around Wilson, which needs to happen like this:

Address the offensive line: The Broncos will need to utilize the draft and free agency to get this done.

Find another young running back: The Broncos do have Chase Edmonds under contract next year, but no other veteran. And with Javonte Williams' future in doubt, given the severity of his injuries, the Broncos will need to either draft a running back or find an undrafted free agent.

Improve the wide receiver depth: There's still a possibility that the Broncos trade one of their younger receivers, meaning they will need to draft one, though you can't rule out a cheap veteran.

Improve the tight end room: With two veterans under one-year deals and Albert Okwuegbunam unlikely to be in the team's future plans, the Broncos need depth behind Greg Dulcich.

Bottom Line

There's certainly a lot of work to do there, but if Paton continues to draft well and is wise with how he utilizes free agency, the Broncos can get an offense built that maximizes Wilson's talents.

In our final segment reviewing Paton's performance, we'll look at how he's utilized the draft and free agency thus far, then get an idea about what he might be considering when he has gone through that process.

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