Denver Broncos trade for Russell Wilson After Aaron Rodgers Stays in Green Bay
The 2022 NFL offseason picked up steam heading into the “legal tampering period” and the kickoff of NFL free agency Tuesday afternoon with the blockbuster news surrounding two franchise-caliber quarterbacks. It's hard to say whether it was all prompted by the franchise tag deadline or one announcement setting off the other chain of events but here is what happened in fairly quick succession.
Aaron Rodgers will stay with the Green Bay Packers on a massive deal, reportedly four years $200 million.
Davante Adams will reportedly be franchise tagged to stay in Green Bay.
Denver Broncos Receive the following:
- Russell Wilson
- 4th round pick
The Seattle Seahawks receive the following:
- Drew Lock
- Shelby Harris
- Noah Fant
- Two 1st round picks
- Two 2nd round picks
- A 5th round pick
At first glance, it seems like the main teams affected here are just Denver and Seattle. But all of this has a ripple effect, not just for these teams, but throughout the league. Let’s look at it.
The Packers reportedly had been listening to offers for Rodgers but, in the end, they decided they’d like to maintain what they have. Since it’s four years, the deal can be heavy in signing bonus which will likely help them with the cap in the early going. We wrote an entire article on how the Packers can save money towards the cap that gets far more into depth than we will here but this might mean guys like ZaDarius Smith or Preston Smith end up on the trade or chopping block shortly.
Winners
The obvious winners are Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams but quietly the biggest winner for fantasy football might be Aaron Jones. You don’t score 30 touchdowns in 30 games as he did with Jordan Love at quarterback.
Losers
As we mentioned, there will be guys who are now cap casualties to keep Rodgers and Adams, like De’Vondre Campbell. But the obvious big loser here is Jordan Love because he doesn’t inherit this offense. He needs to be traded.
The Seahawks were crushed for cap space and had they had already exhausted their use of restructures and “void years” to truly put together a contender. So now it’s back to square one. They receive a massive haul which includes a 24-year-old Noah Fant who can be part of this team for the long haul. The harsh reality here though is they are now one of many teams that have no idea what they are doing at quarterback for the long-term.
Winners
This is where it gets kind of weird in terms of fantasy football. Because some of the guy's leftovers might end up being winners as we’ve seen some players shine on skeleton crew offenses. If the team also moves on from DK Metcalf and/or Tyler Lockett, guys like D’Wayne Eskridge and even Noah Fant might be winners in terms of target share.
Drew Lock also counts as a “winner” here because he gets out of Denver and into a position to compete for a starting job. He could have been released or, even worse, made the backup. This at least indicates Seattle has a mild interest in him.
Losers
Everyone else. There is no way this team is better without Wilson so the top dogs are in trouble. Chris Carson was already questionable with the neck injury and now it’s really ugly. If Tyler Lockett and/or DK Metcalf don’t get traded, their value takes a big hit for the short term at least.
Denver is obviously the biggest winner of any team in the trade as they were “a quarterback away” and now they are instantly a competitor and threat to win the division. That said, it’s a tough division to win with guys like Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert hanging out so new coach Nathaniel Hackett certainly has his work cut out for him.
Winners
The clearest winner is Albert Okwuegbunam. The Noah Fant trade shoots him to the top of the depth chart. But obviously, all the pass catchers are winners here with the quarterback upgrade. I’d argue the biggest winner at wide receiver is split end, Courtland Sutton. As we explained in his Panthers days, Teddy Bridgewater does not like to push the ball down the field. Russell Wilson on the other hand is known for extending the play and giving times guys to separate downfield for big chunks. Sutton with his 15.8-yard average depth of target is the one most likely to benefit from this change compared to guys like Jerry Jeudy or Tim Patrick who stay closer to home. A guy like KJ Hamler could be a sneaky candidate as a downfield threat depending on how he recovers from his ACL as well. Javonte Williams is likely a winner too, as we’ll explain below.
Losers
Melvin Gordon is a loser here if he was hoping to come back to the Broncos because Russ’s contract is massive. That doesn’t leave a lot of space for anything besides a team-friendly deal. In the grand scheme of things, he might land somewhere where he can be a starting running back rather than in a timeshare but he did say he was hopeful on coming back. Bradley Chubb is also a potential loser if he was looking for a big extension in his contract year.
Other Winners and Losers
Loser: Washington Commanders - They supposedly called every team about getting a quarterback. Well, this one was available apparently
Winner: Other NFC West Teams - No more late-game magic by the crafty quarterback. The road is now paved in gold for the foreseeable future as Seattle likely restarts.
Loser: Indianapolis Colts - They are in essentially the same spot as the Commanders with a good-looking team and no quarterback. In the long run, we’ll see if this was an overpay or not but for the time being, Broncos fans must feel pretty good.
Winner: Free Agent Quarterbacks - The Russ move is a wash but Aaron Rodgers staying in town is great for free agent QBs. If Rodgers left and Jordan Love took over, that’s one less landing spot. The price for guys like Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, and even Teddy Bridgewater just went up.
Winner: Free Agent Wide Receivers - There is always a trickle-down. Not only does Davante Adams stay which is one less high-end asset out there, but the Packers actually still need a second WR. The Broncos and Seahawks weren’t going to be adding WRs anyway. Mike Williams and Chris Godwin were also franchise-tagged which is huge for free agents wideouts like Allen Robinson and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
RELATED LINKS
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