A year-and-a-half ago, the Denver Broncos traded for quarterback Russell Wilson in a blockbuster deal with the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos then handed Wilson a massive five-year, $245 million contract extension. It seems the Chicago Bears tried to make a run at Wilson before that deal happened.

However, before the Broncos struck a pact for Wilson, another team almost got there a year earlier.

The Chicago Bears.

According to Patrick Finley of The Chicago Sun-Times, the Bears offered the Seahawks a package that included three first-round draft picks, a third-rounder, a seventh-rounder and veteran players in exchange for Wilson back in March 2021.

The two sides were unable to reach an agreement, however, and Wilson ended up playing out the 2021 campaign in Seattle, throwing for 25 touchdowns and six interceptions en route to his fifth straight Pro Bowl appearance and ninth trip overall.

Because the quarterback-hungry Bears were not able to close the deal for Wilson, they punted to the draft and ended up taking Justin Fields with the 11th overall pick.

Not that Fields has exactly worked out over his first three seasons in Chicago, but at least the Bears aren’t stuck with Wilson’s gigantic contract.

Of course, Wilson was dealt to the Broncos in March 2022 and was expected to change the complexion of a franchise that had not made the playoffs since last winning the Super Bowl in February 2016. However, Wilson went on to have the worst year of his career in his debut season in the Mile High City as the Broncos went just 5-12.

While Russell Wilson has performed better early in 2023, Denver has continued to plummet, starting out 0-3 and recently losing to the Miami Dolphins by a score of 70-20.

The Bears are also 0-3, and there is already chatter about the club moving on from Fields, but the moral of the story here is that it could always be worse.