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Two seasons ago, the Denver Broncos went for an all-in push by trading for Russell Wilson. Now in the present day, Wilson is expected to be cut and has granted permission to speak with other teams.
It feels like yesterday people had put Denver in the status of “contender” when in reality they were “pretenders” the entire time–marred, most infamously, by the botched hiring of Nathaniel Hackett as head coach. Wilson’s ride in Denver ended on an extremely sour note–being benched the final two games for Denver to not pay Wilson’s $37 million of injury guarantee money.
Wilson, 35, only has so much time left in the league–let alone his steady decline the last few seasons on the field, his options for one last go-round are limited. One of the teams rumored for him, the Pittsburgh Steelers, is an unlikely spot for him to land as reports are saying they are not interested.
The Las Vegas Raiders were originally on his shortlist of teams before he left the Seattle Seahawks. But the Raiders could hand him a short-term deal since they are desperate to win now, however, that may not be the right place for him to go either given the current state of their roster.
There is an obvious vacancy in Atlanta who’ve struggled to find a quarterback post-Matt Ryan. Holding the eighth overall pick in this upcoming draft, Atlanta is likely to miss on the top quarterback prospects when looking at most mock drafts. If they can’t find their guy in the draft, maybe adding Wilson for a few seasons isn’t the worst idea for new Atlanta head coach Raheem Morris.
For starters, the offensive line has been one of the absolute best units in the NFL. Atlanta’s line graded an 87.4 pass-blocking efficiency rating, which ranked second in the league–Atlanta’s linemen as individuals average a 75.22 offensive grade on Pro Football Focus as well. While it took some time, the run-blocking grades for each lineman averaged out to 74.68 per lineman.
This unit would finish fourth overall in PFF’s offensive line rankings for 2023. Atlanta also finished tied for seventh with sacks allowed at 40–a vast improvement from Denver’s 52 which was fourth to last in 2023.
Atlanta’s offensive skill players also hold a ton of potential which could be an attractive factor to Russell Wilson. Drake London, the team’s WR1, finished the season with 905 receiving yards while Kyle Pitts came in second with 667.
Bijan Robinson also boasts dual-threat potential as a pass-catching back and in the ground game–his 976 rushing yards and 487 yards scream that more is coming with the right guy throwing him the football.
Wilson graded in at 77.5 last season, throwing for 3,075 passing yards with 26 passing touchdowns–the latter landing him 9th in the league for passing touchdowns. The rest of his 2023 was significantly better following a nightmare 2022: Wilson completed 66.4% of his passes, taking 45 sacks, a passer rating of 98, and a total QBR of 50.7.
Many will point to Arthur Smith’s incoherent play-calling as to why the team’s two best vertical threats weren’t anywhere near their potential–Wilson is someone who can elevate both of their play as someone with a reputation for favoring the deep ball. Pitts wasn’t a top-four pick who made the pro-bowl his rookie year to be someone who couldn’t even reach 700 yards last season.
Desmond Ridder was one of the worst signal callers in the NFL last season. His numbers are already beyond subpar, but his football intangibles were not the answer Atlanta needed. As previously mentioned, the possibility of drafting a quarterback is steep given where most are projected to land. Atlanta would need a massive haul of a trade to move up in the draft for that to happen.
Not only could Wilson be a cognitive short-term solution, but he might also be willing to come along at a discounted rate. With $37.4 million in cap space entering free agency, Atlanta can offer a reasonable price for a short-term deal.
Russell Wilson isn’t the same player he was five seasons ago, but his 2023 proved he has some more to give in the right situation. Atlanta makes a ton of sense given his age and the potential of the current Falcons roster.
