There was a point when Russell Wilson appeared to be a on a Canton trajectory. He had won a Super Bowl with a pair of appearances, earned nine Pro Bowl selections, and was one of the better dual-threat QBs in the league.
That’s why when the Broncos traded a massive package of players and picks for him and proceeded to make him one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, it certainly appeared he would be the game-changer for a stout roster. Sure, he was heading into his age-34 season, but plenty of highly talented quarterbacks continued playing at a high level at that age and beyond.
Well, that trade looks awful in retrospect and the contract only makes the whole situation worse. “Mr. Unlimited” was “Mr. Extremely Limited” in 2022 with the worst season of his career, throwing 16 touchdowns and 11 picks and a quarterback rating of 84.4, the lowest of his career. Since the start of the 2022 season, he ranks 19th in expected points added plus completion percentage above expectation (EPA+CPOE) among the 27 QBs with at least 500 plays.
He has shown slight improvement in 2023 with 11 touchdowns and only two interceptions through his first five games and a quarterback rating of 106.1, but the team record of 1-4 shows he is still not the savior Denver hoped he would be when he arrived.
