The Commanders avoided disaster by failing to trade for Russell Wilson

Be careful what you wish for, folks. Remember at the start of the offseason when Washington Commanders fans were rabid for Russell Wilson? How could you not be, right? A nine-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champ who could easily have two titles on his resume spearheading a turnaround in the nation’s capital?

Who would turn their nose up at that idea?

At the time, nobody. Fast forward to the present, however, and there might not be a team in the NFL who’d willingly take Wilson on his current contract. Just four games in to his Broncos tenure and Wilson looks like a shell of his former self.

A former perennial MVP candidate in Seattle, the “let Russ cook” slogan has quickly morphed into “Russ is cooked,” and it might be true.

The entire country was forced to watch maybe the worst primetime game in the last decade Thursday night. No touchdowns were scored. Wilson delivered arguably his worst performance with Denver, which says A LOT, and the Broncos came up short in overtime to a Colts team that had zero business winning.

The Commanders offered the farm for Wilson this offseason and it’s officially time to admit they avoided an organizational disaster.

The Commanders avoided a huge disaster by whiffing on trading for Russell Wilson this offseason.

This isn’t to say Carson Wentz has been a godsend, but to everyone who watched Thursday’s game, who would you rather have as your quarterback right now: Wentz, Wilson or Matt Ryan, who was maybe just as bad as Wilson?

Regardless, the Broncos are in a colossal predicament they can’t get out of until 2026 at the earliest. To acquire Wilson, they offloaded two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-rounder, quarterback Drew Lock, promising tight end Noah Fant and veteran defensive lineman Shelby Harris.

What if we told you the Seahawks are better off with Geno Smith orchestrating their offense? What if we told you the Commanders are better off with Carson Wentz? What if we told you Wilson’s new contract is currently on pace to become the worst in league history if things don’t improve?

Upon being traded to Denver, Wilson signed a five-year, $245 million extension that keeps him under contract for the next seven years. The deal included a $50 million signing bonus, $161 million in guaranteed money and an average annual value of $49 million that places him second in the NFL only to Aaron Rodgers.

Only Deshaun Watson has more guaranteed money than Wilson and his signing bonus is third behind Dak Prescott and Matt Stafford.

All that money just to miss wide open players for game-winning touchdowns.

What are you doing, Russ?! You can’t demand a trade and become one of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks (again) to do this. 

Before this epic gaffe, Wilson threw an interception in the end zone on 3rd and 4 late in the fourth quarter with Denver leading 9-6. He challenged Stephon Gilmore, one of the league’s premier cornerbacks. His intended receiver? Tyrie Cleveland, who has eight catches in his career.

Wilson was 2-of-14 on passes of more than 10 yards. In five games, he’s completing 59.4% of his passes with four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett will likely be the fall guy — maybe before the end of this season at this rate — because Wilson has dead caps charges of $124 million, $107 million, $85 million and $49.6 million through 2025.

Count your blessings, Commanders fans, because you should be thanking your lucky stars the franchise whiffed on trading for Wilson this offseason. If you think the Wentz experiment has gone poorly, take that and multiply it by infinity and maybe you’ll quantify the dumpster fire going on in Denver right now.