Broncos Pick 'Em: If you could undo one of Denver's moves from the offseason, what would it be?

Over a third of the way through the year, it’s fair to say the Denver Broncos’ season has not gone as planned.

After hiring Nathaniel Hackett, making a blockbuster trade for Russell Wilson and then giving Wilson a massive contract extension, the expectations for the 2022 season were much higher than the team’s current 2-4 start.

With the playoffs slipping out of sight, what’s one offseason move you would undo?

The DNVR Broncos Crew debates.

All odds below are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

What’s one offseason move the Broncos made you would undo?

Zac: Not sign Russell Wilson to the five-year, $245 million extension — I’m not out on Russ yet, so I’m not undoing the trade. But it would be naive to say I’m not worried about his play the first six weeks.

Look, after Aaron Rodgers went back to the Packers, Wilson was hands down the best option to solve Denver’s quarterback situation for the short term. And he still is. When the Broncos gave him the extension, they thought he was the best solution for the long term as well. That’s up in the air now.

By not giving Russ the extension, Denver would have a couple of options they currently don’t have. The first is they could cut Wilson after this season. That’s highly unlikely since they gave up a first and second-round pick next year to get him.

The second, and more likely, option is they could have him play out the final two years of his deal. At any point, if Wilson plays like the Hall-of-Fame quarterback he was in Seattle, then they could give him the massive contract. If not, however, Denver would be able to move on from him by the time they have first-round picks again.

I still believe Wilson can be Denver’s long-term answer at quarterback. But the first six weeks have been worrisome enough that the flexibility to move on from him before 2026 would be preferable.

RK: The Russell Wilson extension — It’s way too soon to pull the plug on the Russ era entirely but, with hindsight being 20/20 I would undo the five-year $245 million extension for a few reasons.

1. The top reason is because at the very least, you would be able to get a big discount on Wilson if he continues to play this way and you still want to keep him. Even with the way he’s played, you still need a quarterback and I’m confident that things will get better. But at this point it’s hard to say confidently that it will get good enough to justify that contract.
2. If, and it’s still a big if, you need to pull the plug on Russ, you would be in a much better situation, even with all the picks you gave up, if you could get out of the contract for little to no penalty. Tobe clear, this would still be a bad situation, but certiainly not as bad as it looks now.

Of all the moves that look bad right now, it’s being attached to this version of Russell Wilson for at least five years that looks the worst. Unfortunately for the Broncos and this staff, that is not an option and now all they can do is make whatever moves they need to make to fix the situation, and that may mean starting all over from a coaching staff perspective.

Hank: The Russell Wilson Trade — I hate that I’m saying this, but if I had a chance to abort the trade that sent Russell Wilson to Denver, I’d do it.

We’re only 5% of the way through the Russell Wilson Era in Denver, so it’s too soon to be jumping to any conclusions. Only the first chapter is written. But given how poorly everything has gone to this point, I’d be willing to pull the rip cord and bail out.

Bringing back Noah Fant, Drew Lock and Shelby Harris is hardly valuable. Harris could play a role, but the Broncos’ are a-okay without him. The other two might not be upgrades over what the Broncos currently have, even with Wilson out of the picture.

But getting off of a seven-year deal for an aging player who is performing poorly and adding a haul of draft picks in the process would provide relief. It’s a conservative move, but going back to quarterback purgatory sounds like a good thing… at least for now.

Picks Picks Picks

Zach Wilson passing yards over/under 185.5

Zac: Under.

RK: Under.

Hank: Under.

Zach Wilson passing touchdowns over/under 0.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Over.

Hank: Under.

Breece Hall rushing yards over/under 71.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Over.

Hank: Under.

Garrett Wilson receiving yards over/under 38.5

Zac: Over.

RK: Over.

Hank: Under.

Will Breece Hall and Michael Carter combine for 200+ rushing yards and 2 touchdowns? (+900)

Zac: Nope.

RK: No.

Hank: No.

Broncos-Jets total points over/under 37

Zac: Under.

RK: Under

Hank: Over.

Jets @ Broncos (+1.5)

Zac: J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. Unfortunately.

RK: Broncos. Surely Brett will look awesome and all hell will break loose in Broncos Country.

Hank: Broncos. Let’s Ryp.

Chiefs (-2) @ 49ers

Zac: Chiefs.

RK: 49ers.

Hank: Chiefs.

Seahawks @ Chargers (-5)

Zac: Seahawks cover.

RK: Hawks.

Hank: Chargers.

Texans @ Raiders (-7)

Zac: Raiders.

RK: Texans.

Hank: Texans cover.

Leaderboard

Last week

Hank: 7-2

Zac: 6-3

RK: 5-4

Overall

Zac: 38-35

RK: 36-37

Hank: 27-46