Russell Wilson seemed to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory after his first seven or eight NFL seasons. He had won a Super Bowl and played in another while appearing in the Pro Bowl for six of his first eight seasons.
Wilson seemingly wanted more control on the direction of the Seattle offense. He was one of the most sacked quarterbacks in the league and they couldn’t seem to figure out that issue while rotating through multiple high draft picks and offensive coordinators. A mallet-finger injury capped a disappointing stretch with just one playoff win in a four-year stretch, and that marked the beginning of the end in Seattle.
The Hall of Fame portion of his career came to a close and he went to the Denver Broncos in hopes of elevating himself and his new team to new heights. You can argue how well Wilson played in Denver and how much blame he deserved, but the results weren’t great. An 11-19 record did not match the trade haul or massive contract given up to secure his services.
This put his Hall of Fame resume in jeopardy, but he seems to be roaring back with Mike Tomlin, Arthur Smith and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Russell Wilson’s image has gotten so much better this year to so many people. If he were to take a below-market deal, I think everything, the second-floor office, all the Denver stuff, is done forever. It’s just Seattle and Pittsburgh and that’s who he is. The Denver years, we ignore,” Evan Cohen said via ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. “If he’s worth $30 [million] a year and he’s like, ‘You know what, I’ll take three for $60 [million] and be happy,’ I don’t think we even acknowledge the Denver stuff. I think we blame Denver or [Nathaniel] Hackett or however you wanna look at it instead of him.”
One thing is for sure: some of the decision makers within the Broncos organization are scratching their heads right about now wondering what went wrong with the quarterback they are still paying $37.79 million this season not to play for them.
Between Nathaniel Hackett and Sean Payton, the Broncos never quite got it right with Wilson. Hackett was inexperienced and ill-equipped for the job while Payton’s personality clashed with Wilson too much. Their styles just didn’t mesh.
Wilson has been outstanding for the Steelers, well beyond anything that could have been predicted. If he played a full 17-game season, he would come very close to matching his career highs in multiple key statistics. He’s led the Steelers to a 6-1 record, which is just one fewer win than he had with the Broncos in double the starts last season.
Beyond the stats, Wilson has turned into a great leader for the franchise. By all accounts he was a good teammate in Denver, but he came with some baggage. He was Mr. Unlimited, DangerRuss, and he had his own private office away from the rest of the team. Sean Payton even had to ban his personal coach from the team facility. It just wasn’t a great look. All of that stuff has gone away in Pittsburgh. He hasn’t even come up with a corny slogan yet.
If he manages to get the Steelers an AFC North division title and a playoff win or two, all will be forgotten from his Broncos stint. I don’t know what would possess him to play hardball when it comes to his contract at that point. He’s made so much money, and he is married to a pop superstar. At this point, he’s playing for legacy. Signing a team-friendly deal would also do wonders for putting the Denver disaster behind him.
