Peyton Manning wasted no time welcoming new Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson to Denver following his trade from the Jets on Monday.
When discussing the Broncos’ recent acquisition on-air with Denver Sports, the two-time Super Bowl champion — who played in Denver for four seasons after beginning his prolific career in Indianapolis in 1998 — revealed he reached out to Wilson, who “sounds excited to be here.”
“I’ve never met Zach, but I got his number [Monday] from the Broncos and reached out to him and welcomed him to Denver and was excited with this new chapter,” Manning told Josh Dover and Brandon Stokley.
“He sounds excited to be here, so hopefully it’ll be a good fit.”
Manning, who retired from the NFL after the 2015 season, when he won a Super Bowl with Denver, believes the “change of scenario” for Wilson “is going to be a good one” following three rocky seasons in New York coupled with a revolving door of offensive coordinators.
“I don’t know how many coordinators he had in the time he was there, it was at least two, it might have been three, so, as you know, for a young quarterback, the best way to really I think screw a young quarterback up is to change coordinators on him every single year, and it drives me crazy,” Manning said.
“Look, I was very fortunate. I had an old-school coach named Tom Moore who was the coordinator the entire time I was there in Indianapolis. Tom Brady had different coordinators [with the Patriots], Charlie Weis, Josh McDaniels, Bill O’Brien. But it was the same system, right? [Head coach Bill] Belichick said, hey, we’re running the same exact system. So it’s the same language, right? It’s the same verbiage. You rep each play against different coverages and you just learn those plays with the reps.”
Upon being drafted by the Jets second overall in 2021, Wilson teamed up with Mike LaFleur, the brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
He departed the team after two seasons and the Jets added former Broncos head coach — and ex-Packers offensive coordinator — Nathaniel Hackett in January 2023.
Hackett previously worked with four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers, whom the Jets acquired last April from Green Bay.
Wilson, 24, was expected to back up Rodgers, 40, last year before the latter ruptured his Achilles just four plays into his Jets career.
Wilson would finish his final year with the Jets throwing for 2,271 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions through 12 games.
Manning, 48, believes a “reboot” under second-year Broncos coach Sean Payton will serve Wilson well.
“Let’s just sort of start over, right? And let’s just let Sean Payton and his staff coach you and kind of start from ground zero, which I think might be just what Zach needs,” the five-time NFL MVP said, per Denver Sports.
The Broncos are coming off an 8-9 campaign and released Super Bowl champion quarterback Russell Wilson in March following a failed two-year experiment.
It’s been widely speculated Denver could add a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday, with the team said to be interested in Oregon’s Bo Nix.
The Broncos currently hold the No. 12 overall pick in the first round.
They added a seventh-rounder (No. 256) from the Jets as part of the Wilson trade.
