The 2022 season was a disaster for the Denver Broncos. They made a huge splash acquiring Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks during the offseason that just didn’t pan out. Things went so poorly that Nathaniel Hackett was fired as head coach after one season on the job.
This offseason, Denver made another splash, acquiring head coach Sean Payton from the New Orleans Saints. There is optimism that Payton can help turn around an offense that was among the worst in the NFL last season despite not lacking talent.
That disastrous season could have been avoided had the trade the Broncos thought they had completed gone through. According to a former NFL executive that spoke to NFL Analysis Network, Denver nearly acquired Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers last offseason before pivoting to a deal for Wilson.
“The Broncos almost had a trade completed with the Packers for Aaron Rodgers before it fell through last-minute. Green Bay opted to run it back for one more season with Rodgers. The deal would have included three first-round picks, Drew Lock, and Jerry Jeudy. Denver pivoted to acquire Russell Wilson with a slightly lesser trade package.”
This is something many people hypothesized had occurred. Selecting Hackett to become their next head coach felt like a move aimed at making the transition for Rodgers an easy one; Hackett had just overseen two MVP seasons for Rodgers as the Packers’ offensive coordinator. There was also the chance that Davante Adams would have eventually joined up with him in Denver as well.
The price to get that done was steep, as three first-round picks, Lock and Jeudy, are a lot of assets to surrender. Wilson cost five draft picks and three players, but only two first-round picks were included. But, it would be hard to envision Rodgers having as poor of a season as Wilson did under Hackett.
That is a deal Green Bay likely regrets just as much not signing off on. They missed the playoffs in what turned out to be Rodgers’ final season with the team, as he was traded to the New York Jets a few weeks ago.
Alas, hindsight is 20/20. The Seahawks ended up being the biggest winners in this ordeal, as they are in the best position to compete as soon as possible compared to the Broncos and Packers, who have some hurdles to overcome.
