Denver Broncos Agree To Trade For Russell Wilson: Reports

DENVER, CO — The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks have agreed to terms for Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson, according to reports.

The trade deal followed weeks of negotiations, Adam Schefter of ESPN tweeted Tuesday. The trade is pending a physical and Wilson’s approval, ESPN reported.

The Seahawks will receive two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, young quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant and defensive lineman Shelby Harris, insider Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported. The Broncos will also receive a fourth-rounder back from Seattle.

The news comes shortly after the Green Bay Packers agreed to sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a historic four-year deal. Schefter tweeted that Denver's acquisition of Wilson was unrelated to Rodgers' decision.

"Denver general manager George Paton initiated trade talks with Seattle for Wilson at least two weeks ago, per sources," tweeted Schefter, who was a former sports reporter for The Denver Post.

The trade also comes less than a week after Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said the team had no plans to trade Wilson.

“That’s commonplace for us to have conversations with teams about all of the players, particularly marquee players, and that’s not changed,” Carroll said Wednesday. “It’s been the same every year we’ve been here so it’s the same as it’s been. We have no intention of making any move there.”

Wilson, 33, has been to nine Pro Bowls in his career, but is coming off a down year in Seattle.

Experts at Pro Football Focus graded him at a 73.9 in 2021, ranking 18th out of 38 qualifying NFL quarterbacks. That season followed three consecutive stellar seasons in which he received grades of 88.9, 91.9 and 90.5, good for rankings of 6th, 1st and 6th in those seasons.

In 2013, Wilson and the Seahawks steamrolled the Denver Broncos in a historic Super Bowl 48 win.

Wilson finishes his career in Seattle with a completion percentage of 65 percent and amassing more than 37,000 yards passing with 292 touchdowns and 87 interceptions. He also rushed for over 4,600 yards and added 23 rushing touchdowns.

Despite playing in a tough AFC West with Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert, the Broncos odds to win the Super Bowl this season shot up Tuesday from about 4.35 percent to about 6.67 percent, according to oddsmakers.

"The odds are updating currently at the time of writing this but we are seeing it move from roughly +2200 up to +1400 after the news of the Russell Wilson trade," according to the odds aggregating site Oddschecker.com. "It makes sense, they had a top-10 defense, a good [wide receiver] room, and rookie Javonte Williams burst onto the scene last year."

Seattle's odds, meanwhile, dropped from about 2.44 percent to 0.99 percent.