The Denver Broncos signed Russell Wilson to a massive contract extension before he ever played a snap for them, and many people are wondering if that was a mistake. General manager George Paton is not second-guessing himself.
Wilson had two seasons remaining on his previous deal when the Broncos signed him to a five-year, $245 million extension. Denver had already invested multiple first-round draft picks in Wilson when they acquired him in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks, so locking him up for several more years seemed to make sense.
Now that Wilson and the Broncos are off to a terrible start to the season, there have been questions about whether the team jumped the gun. Paton told reporters on Thursday that his feelings on Wilson have not changed and that the goal was to “get ahead of the contract cycle.”
Paton on Wilson contract II: "We wanted to get ahead of it. We didn’t want a lot of distraction during the season. We feel really good about it. I feel good about that deal. I feel like it will hold up. I feel good about Russ.” #9sports
— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) October 27, 2022
Wilson is 33, so the Broncos probably were not getting ahead of the market all that much. The only “risk” would have been that Wilson played like a Pro Bowler for them and they had to pay him a higher average annual value after the 2023 season. Obviously, they expected things to go a lot better than they have.
Wilson has just five touchdown passes in six games this season. The Broncos are 2-5 and averaging an NFL-worst 14.3 points per game. Their offense has been a complete mess, though much of that is first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett’s fault. There were rumblings this week that Hackett could already be on the hot seat, but Paton shut that talk down.
It is a bit premature to say the Broncos made a huge mistake by giving up multiple first-round picks for Wilson and then immediately committing $165 million guaranteed to him. They have a new coach and new quarterback and may simply need time to work out the kinks. One thing we can say for certain is that they could not be off to a worse start.
