Where Does Russell Wilson to Broncos Trade Rank Among Worst Moves in NFL History?

Where Does Russell Wilson to Broncos Trade Rank Among Worst Moves in NFL History?0 of 7

Russell WilsonSam Hodde/Getty Images

In a move that most expected to see this offseason, the Denver Broncos are set to release quarterback Russell Wilson just two years after acquiring him in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks.

“On behalf of the Broncos, we thank Russell for his contributions and dedication to our team and community while wishing him the best as he continues his career,” general manager George Paton and coach Sean Payton said in a statement.

The writing was on the wall when Payton benched Wilson with two games left in the 2023 season and Denver was still mathematically alive for a playoff spot. Given what the trade yielded the Broncos—two disappointing seasons and a massive cap hit—some are sure to view it as one of the worst in NFL history.

But how bad was Denver’s failed bid to become an instant contender? Let’s take a closer look at the trade and how it stacks up to the worst trades in NFL history.

Factors like trade terms, player performance and any relevant contract information were considered here. And since trades can’t accurately be judged until they’re over, players who are still with the teams that acquired them, like Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson, were not considered.

7. Cardinals Trade into Top 10 for Josh Rosen1 of 7

Josh RosenChristian Petersen/Getty Images

Seeing as how quarterback Josh Rosen hasn’t thrown a regular-season pass since 2021, this trade had to make the list.

The Arizona Cardinals were looking to add a new quarterback in 2018, and after watching Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Josh Allen come off the board, they made their move for UCLA’s Josh Rosen.

To land Rosen at No. 10 overall, general manager Steve Keim sent the 15th, 79th and 152nd picks to the Las Vegas Raiders. In return, Arizona got one season, 13 starts and some very poor quarterback play.

Rosen finished his rookie year with 11 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a dismal 66.7 quarterback rating. Exactly one year after being drafted, Rosen found himself replaced by Kyler Murray and traded to the Dolphins for second- and fifth-round picks.

Making this deal look worse is the fact that Arizona passed on quarterback Lamar Jackson, now a two-time MVP, to make Rosen the fourth quarterback off the board.

While this trade looks awful in retrospect, it lands at the bottom of our list because Rosen was, at the time, considered a borderline “can’t-miss” prospect.

“Rosen’s footwork and mechanics make him as pretty a quarterback as you will find in this year’s draft,” NFL Media’s Lance Zierlein wrote before the draft.

The fact that Arizona also recouped some of its draft capital by dealing Rosen makes this trade a little more palatable six years after the fact. And to be perfectly honest, Miami’s decision to deal for Rosen after his lackluster rookie campaign wasn’t much better.

6. Bears Trade Up to Draft QB Mitch Trubisky2 of 7

Mitch TrubiskyRobin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In today’s NFL, teams can be forgiven for taking a swing at the game’s most important position. However, the Chicago Bears’ choice to trade up for quarterback Mitch Trubisky in 2017 was highly questionable even then.

For one, Trubisky had spent just a single season as North Carolina’s starter. In a draft that also featured Watson and Patrick Mahomes, Trubisky was a relative unknown.

To be fair, though, Bears general manager Ryan Pace wasn’t the only one high on Trubisky at the time. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., for example, had Trubksky rated higher than both Watson and Mahomes.

In retrospect, though, passing on Mahomes, specifically, was a massive mistake. He’s already a Hall of Famer and unquestionably the best quarterback in the NFL. And while Watson has struggled in Cleveland, he was a three-time Pro Bowler for the Houston Texans.

Trubisky made one Pro Bowl appearance as an alternate with the Bears but was released after just four years. He finished his Chicago tenure with a 29-21 record but an underwhelming 87.2 passer rating.

That’s not what Chicago expected when it made Trubisky the second player off the board. To move up from No. 3 to No. 2 and secure Trubisky, the Bears dealt the 67th and 111th overall picks to the San Francisco 49ers, along with a 2018 third-round pick.

That was a hefty price to move up a single spot, though this trade is largely on this list because the Bears took a quarterback not named Mahomes. It ranks low because Chicago wasn’t the only team to pass on drafting him.

5. Colts Trade a First-round Pick for RB Trent Richardson3 of 7

Trent RichardsonMichael Hickey/Getty Images

This isn’t the last running-back deal you’ll find on this list, but it’s the only one to have occurred this century—after the NFL truly became a quarterback-driven league.

Two games into the 2013 season, the Indianapolis Colts traded a 2024 first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for former Alabama running back Trent Richardson. It did not go well.

Richardson, the third overall pick in the 2012 draft, was coming off a good but not great rookie campaign. He finished his inaugural season with 1,317 scrimmage yards and 12 total touchdowns, but he averaged an underwhelming 3.6 yards per carry.

Even then, it appeared that much of Richardson’s college success was a product of Alabama’s supporting cast. He simply didn’t show a lot of burst or vision with the Browns—and, in retrospect, Cleveland being willing to dump a player it traded up to get should have been a red flag.

The Colts were desperate to add a premier back alongside second-year quarterback Andrew Luck, though. General manager Ryan Grigson flipped the switch on the Richardson deal, taking on a sizeable four-year, $20.5 million contract in the process.

While Richardson showed some ability in his short stint with the Browns, he was an utter liability in Indianapolis.

In 29 games with the Colts, Richardson averaged just 3.1 yards per carry and compiled a mere 977 rushing yards. He was released after just two seasons, and despite signing contracts with the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens, Richardson never appeared in a regular-season game after that.

4. Saints Trade Their Entire Draft for RB Ricky Williams4 of 7

Ricky WilliamsRonald Martinez/Getty Images

OK, so you might be expecting to see the disastrous 1999 Ricky Williams trade a bit higher on this list. Indeed, it remains one of the most infamous draft trades in NFL history.

The New Orleans Saints and head coach Mike Ditka were desperate to land the Texas product and make him the centerpiece of their offense. To make it happen, the Saints traded all of their remaining 1999 draft picks—they had already sent their second-round pick for wideout Eddie Kennison—along with 2000 first- and third-round picks to the Washington Commanders.

Obviously, that’s a lot to give up for any player, especially a non-quarterback. It certainly didn’t pay off for New Orleans, which went 20-28 and made one playoff appearance during Williams’ three years with the franchise.

It was even worse for Ditka, who was fired after Williams’ rookie season.

Yet Williams was an effective player for the Saints, tallying 3,129 rushing yards, 4,221 scrimmage yards and 18 touchdowns in 38 career games. Running backs were still considered a premium position at the time—Williams wasn’t even the first running back selected in 1999—and the Saints got a productive one.

New Orleans also recouped some capital by sending Williams and a 2002 fourth-round pick to Miami for a 2002 first-round pick and first- and fourth-round selections in 2003.

Williams went on to rush for more than 10,000 yards in his career, so as a player, he was far from a bust. The trade, though, was still a lousy one.

3. Broncos Acquire and Immediately Extend Russell Wilson5 of 7

Russell WilsonAndy Cross/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

On one hand, Denver’s trade for Wilson was more logical than New Orleans’ move for Williams. Wilson was a nine-time Pro Bowler with the Seattle Seahawks who had led his team to the playoffs in eight of his 10 campaigns.

At the time, Wilson seemed like a surefire Hall of Famer, and a massive trade haul was to be expected. Denver still gave up an awful lot, though, sending two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant to Seattle for Wilson and a fourth-round pick.

That would seem like a reasonable price point had Wilson continued his Canton trajectory in Denver. However, Wilson flopped under rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett in 2022 and was better under Sean Payton this past season but not good enough.

In his two years with the Broncos, Wilson passed for 6,594 yards with 42 touchdowns, 19 interceptions and 90.9 quarterback rating. He went just 11-19 as the starter and failed to earn a Pro Bowl nod or deliver a playoff berth.

What makes this move worse, though, was general manager George Paton’s decision to extend Wilson a year early before ever seeing him take the field in a regular-season game for the Broncos. Wilson was under contract through 2023 but got a new deal last offseason worth $242.6 million over five years with $161 million guaranteed.

Because of that extension, the Broncos must now eat $85 million in dead money just to dump Wilson. Presumably, they’ll do so with a post-June 1 designation, which will spread the dead cap hit over 2024 ($35.4 million) and 2025 ($49.6 million).

At the time, Denver was clearly impressed with what it had seen from Wilson off the field.

“In just a few short months with the Broncos, Russell has already had a dramatic effect on this organization both on and off the field,” Paton said in a statement.

However, extending Wilson without knowing if he could even succeed outside of Seattle makes this one of the worst NFL moves we’ve ever seen.

2. 49ers Trade Up for QB Trey Lance6 of 7

Trey Lance and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

OK, so we said that NFL teams can be forgiven for taking big swings at the quarterback position. However, it sure would make sense for those attempted home runs to be grounded in logic.

In 2021, though, the 49ers made a massive jump up the draft board before even knowing which quarterback they might land. They moved up from No. 12 to No. 3 by sending the Dolphins the 12th pick, a 2021 third-round pick and first-round picks in 2022 and 2023.

They made the move in late March, more than a month before the draft, and it only guaranteed that San Francisco would get the third quarterback in the draft.

The 49ers then settled on North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, a physically promising but extremely raw prospect who had appeared in only 19 college games. He had attempted a mere 318 passes during his collegiate career.

It was a massive risk, and it didn’t pan out. Lance couldn’t unseat Jimmy Garoppolo as a rookie and suffered a season-ending ankle injury two games into his sophomore campaign. By the end of his third training camp, he was the third-string quarterback behind unexpected star Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold.

Lance was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth-round pick before the start of the 2023 season.

Had the 49ers not stumbled into Purdy with the final pick of the 2022 draft, it’s fair to wonder if head coach Kyle Shanahan or general manager John Lynch would still be employed. Purdy’s rise to stardom has overshadowed this boneheaded move, which really is one of the worst in history.

From a trade-cost standpoint, it’s right up there with the Wilson trade, but at least the Broncos got a quarterback who had proven himself at the pro level.

1. Vikings Acquire RB Herschel Walker from the Cowboys7 of 7

Herschel Walker Jonathan Daniel

Yep, this is the big one, the worst of the worst, unrivaled in its lack of value for the team that orchestrated it.

In 1989, the Minnesota Vikings dealt a ludicrous haul of players and picks to acquire running back Herschel Walker from the Dallas Cowboys.

To acquire the then-27-year-old running back, Minnesota coughed up linebacker Jesse Solomon, linebacker David Howard, cornerback Issiac Holt, defensive end Alex Stewart, 1990 first-, second- and sixth-round picks, 1991 first- and second-round picks and 1992 first-, second- and third-round selections.

Running back Darren Nelson was part of the deal but ended up with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Vikings also got two third-rounders, a fifth-rounder and a 10th-rounder back.

Walker was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Cowboys, but even at a time when running backs ruled the NFL, he wasn’t worth that haul—and Dallas used it to build its dynasty of the 1990s.

It was an awful trade, even at face value. However, it became much worse when Walker spent a little over two disappointing seasons with the Vikings and then left for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency.

In 42 games with 40 starts in Minnesota, Walker compiled just 2,264 rushing yards and 2,945 scrimmage yards, though he did score 25 touchdowns. He never rushed for more than 825 yards in a season with the Vikings, though he did have one 1,000-yard campaign with the Eagles.

Minnesota hasn’t appeared in the Super Bowl since 1976, while the Cowboys won three Lombardi Trophies in the ’90s alone, thanks in large part to this gem of a deal orchestrated by Vikings general manager Mike Lynn.

From the Vikings’ standpoint, this was easily the worst move in NFL history.