ESPN draft experts believe Broncos could attempt to move on from Russell Wilson

It’s safe to say the Russell Wilson experiment in Denver has been an abject disaster, and some of ESPN’s NFL Draft analysts believe the Broncos could move on from him after this season.

The Broncos are just 7-17 with Wilson and are headed towards a second straight last place finish in their division. Plus, they’re not only terrible, but didn’t even have their very high 2023 draft pick after trading it to Seattle — along with the 2022 first rounder and second-rounders in the ’22 and ’23 drafts. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are 13-10 since the trade and hauled in all those picks and some nice players from Denver.

So, with such a dumpster fire lit in Denver, ESPN’s Jordan Reid believes if the Broncos land a high enough pick in 2024 to snag a quarterback, they better take that opportunity. During a discussion between he and Matt Miller, Reid said he likes North Carolina’s Drake Maye to go to Denver if they get a high enough pick.

“I have them going with Drake Maye here. I think Denver just has to go quarterback here, and it just feels like a weird dynamic with Sean Payton and Russell Wilson,” said Reid, predicting that Payton will want his own young QB. “It just seems like there’s some disconnect there. And yes, I know Russell’s playing better this year, but I just think Sean Payton is going to want his own guy at the end of the day.”

Yes, despite the immense contract Denver invested in Wilson, Reid is ready for a fresh start under center in the Mile High City, especially in a division with other good young QBs.

“I know Denver signed him to the massive contract, but they just have to find a way to hit the reset button, just because — being in the AFC West, it’s like you have Kansas City, you have the Chargers, and I know the Raiders are down right now. There’s nowhere to go but up in that division, but it’s very hard to get to the mountain top with both those teams (Chiefs and Chargers) already having quarterbacks. So I just think they need to get a quarterback of their own and that quarterback will be Drake Maye.”

Matt Miller chimed in next, agreeing with Reid’s point while noting that Wilson’s age is a big factor in this decision. He also agreed that Sean Payton would be interested in a new rookie QB.

“Yeah, it’s hard to argue with. And also, like, if we’re comparing Arizona and Denver and those quarterback conversations, Kyler (Murray) is still 24 years old. Russell Wilson is 32. So you got that age difference there as well, and I do feel like it’s important to know, again, Sean Payton went to the Broncos knowing Russell Wilson was there, but he hasn’t felt extremely tied to him. So I do think Denver is… yeah, drafting a quarterback.”

Justin Reid had mentioned earlier that regardless of who’s drafting, he expects Maye and Caleb Williams to occupy the top two spots on draft night. So if Denver is in position and passes on him, that opens the door for an unexpected team to grab a terrific QB prospect.

“I’ll say this: if Denver says ‘hey, we’ll go defense or something crazy here, Drake Maye probably comes off with the very next pick. He’s not going to be waiting very long anyway. Drake’s not going to be waiting. He’ll have a short night in Detroit, I have a very confident feeling.”

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