Seattle Trades Russell Wilson

The NFL Network reported the Seahawks agreed to send Wilson and a fourth-round pick to Denver in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and a fifth-rounder, along with quarterback Drew Lock, defensive end Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant, the Broncos’ first-round draft pick in 2019.

Wilson’s trade came six years and a day after Manning retired, one of the biggest trades in NFL history, with an agreement by Broncos general manager George Paton to send a massive haul of players and draft picks to the Seattle Seahawks for nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson.

Wilson spent the past 10 seasons in the Pacific Northwest, racking up 37,059 yards and 292 touchdowns in 104 wins. Russell Wilson is now a top-six candidate for NFL MVP in 2022 after he was traded to the Denver Broncos. 

The trade gives Denver the quarterback it has sought since Peyton Manning retired, and it gives Seattle a foundation on which to rebuild without the quarterback who led the Seahawks to their only Super Bowl title. Wilson agreed to waive his no-trade provision and passed his Broncos’ physical on Tuesday night, sources told ESPN. These moves clear the way for the Seahawks to send him to Denver.

The Seahawks quietly were listening to offers for Wilson and got calls from multiple teams. One league source estimated the total to be over a dozen teams. Wilson sensed he was going to have to move on, and if he did, he wanted to be going to a winning program. Denver, with all its offensive talent and its tough defense, is in “win-now” mode. Numerous league sources indicated that Seattle was fairly hellbent on getting Wilson out of the NFC, and Denver resonated strongly with Wilson. 

And now the Broncos will turn their attention to add talent around Wilson – they already have potential breakout players at receiver – and go about extending his contract to keep him bound to the team for the duration of his career, or close to it. The addition of Russell Wilson has immediately changed the complexion of the Broncos, turning an also-ran in the AFC West to a team that should be able to compete each and every week inside arguably the best division in football. The deal also changed how the Broncos must attack the rest of this offseason, needing to fill more holes with fewer resources because of the price they paid — five draft picks and three players, two of them key starters — to obtain their franchise quarterback.

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