“I was watching some draft guys and my Twitter updated and, yeah, there was a whole bunch of yelling and running around the hallways. Wilson embraced the Broncos’ message and signed the document approving of the trade, which the club sent back to the Seahawks.įor the first time since Peyton Manning retired after the 2015 Super Bowl, the Broncos had a franchise-level quarterback.ĭefensive backs coach Christian Parker was in his office. Those were really important conversations.” We had a month to do a lot of work and I know he did a lot of work on a lot of teams so I knew he knew our personnel, but he didn’t know me, he didn’t know Nathaniel, he didn’t know what we are trying to build here.
Now, we knew him probably more than he knew us. “He had to get to know what we’re all about as we did him.
The Broncos had to sell themselves to Wilson so he would wave his no-trade clause. “We had a lot of things to prepare for: What’s the plan? Where is Russ going when he lands? Let’s get the (fieldhouse) ready,” Paton said. He and Seahawks general manager John Schneider had their first Wilson-related discussion at the Senior Bowl in late January and conversations gained momentum the previous week at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. “You know, on the Fourth, when it gets dark and then, ‘Boom, boom, boom.’ There was obviously a lot of joy.” “It was like the Fourth of July,” Paton said during an interview with The Denver Post in his office. Paton saw the news break - Wilson and a fourth-round pick to the Broncos for quarterback Drew Lock, defensive end Shelby Harris, tight end Noah Fant, two first- and second-round draft choices apiece and a fifth-round selection - and then waited for the noise. Where he has ranked since entering the league in 2012 in completions of at least 20 yards: Yearīy that point, Wilson and his family were already en route to Centennial Airport, located across the street from the Broncos’ facility. One of new Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson’s strengths is throwing the deep ball. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, linked to the Broncos since Draft Night 2021, made it known on the morning of March 8 he was staying put and wouldn’t follow coach Nathaniel Hackett to the Broncos.
(Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post) Broncos get their man “I just kind of sat there until my phone started and I had 1,000 texts and you could hear people screaming.” Quarterback Russell Wilson introduced by head coach Nathaniel Hackett and GM George Paton at Denver Broncos headquarters in Englewood on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. “We knew it was coming soon and it was unique in that most of the building didn’t know,” Paton said. General manager George Paton and president/CEO Joe Ellis were in the office of another Broncos executive. What seemed unfathomable a year ago and unlikely in early March will become a reality: Wilson will lead the Broncos out of the tunnel in the stadium he thought he would always call home. It is Game 1 of 17, but it could serve as the catalyst for the Broncos to start their march up the division and conference. And Monday night, he makes his hype-filled return to Seattle to face his former team. Two months later, he was on the practice field. A week after that, Wilson hosted teammates in San Diego for a throwing camp. Finally.Ī week later, the trade was official. They were a part of the AFC conversation. The Broncos’ optimistic-but-realistic view of the season - where nearly everything would have to go right to make the playoffs - was flipped 180 degrees to aspirations of playing deep into January because of Wilson’s experience, leadership and play-making ability.įollowing six consecutive years out of the playoffs and five consecutive losing seasons, the Broncos were relevant. Throughout the Broncos’ facility, assistant coaches, who had no idea the team was pursuing Wilson, equal parts sat shocked in their office chairs and bounded into the hallways to celebrate.
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