One of the biggest moves of the 2022 NFL offseason was the Seattle Seahawks trading Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos. It was a move that altered the landscape of the league as many people thought the Broncos would become contenders with Russell Wilson under center while the Seahawks would be embarking on a rebuild.
Well, those predictions proved to be wrong. It was the Broncos who fell apart, as they went 5-12. Seattle thrived, going 9-8 and earning a Wild Card spot. With a second top-10 pick at their disposal courtesy of Denver, the Seahawks are well on their way to building a sustained winner.
The Broncos, on the other hand, made another major move this offseason. They acquired head coach Sean Payton from the New Orleans Saints, hoping he helps get Russell Wilson and the team’s offense back on track. However, almost none of this came to pass.
According to Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports, the Seahawks actually had another trade completed last offseason centered around Russell Wilson. However, he nixed the trade. Per Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated, it was the Philadelphia Eagles who had a deal in place to acquire Russell Wilson, but he refused to go to the City of Brotherly Love.
It ended up working out in Philadelphia’s favor as Jalen Hurts turned in an excellent 2022 season following the acquisition of wide receiver A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans. Had the Eagles successfully executed the trade for Russell Wilson, who knows how their season would have progressed; and they almost certainly wouldn’t have Brown in the fold.
Bishop’s reporting does piggyback on what quarterback coach Jake Heaps, who had worked with Russell Wilson for years, shared in 2022 when appearing on Denver radio station KOA. The Seahawks options were limited but they made the most of the situation.
“The reason why this [deal] happened so quickly and progressed quickly is because, one, Denver was working on this behind the scenes for a while now,” Heaps said back then. “The other reason is because the Seahawks were limited, guys. There’s not real leverage if there’s only a certain amount of teams that Russell Wilson’s actually interested in or be willing to waive his no-trade clause for.
“He turned down the Washington [Commanders] offer. He turned down an offer from Philly during the Combine. And the Denver situation was the clear-cut, number one choice for him going into all these other teams.”
The Seahawks have to be happy about how things ended up turning out. Not only is Russell Wilson in the opposite conference, so they will only see him once every four years unless it is in a Super Bowl, they came away with a treasure trove of assets that have them set up to succeed for years to come.
Based on how Russell Wilson played in 2022, the Eagles are probably happy that he refused to waive his no-trade clause to join the team. They are doing perfectly fine without him and now look like a perennial contender in the NFC.
