The Broncos will get a lot of picks and players in the trade that will send Russell Wilson to them. There is a break in the story at 2:30. George Paton, the general manager of the Denver Broncos, had been using words like aggressive andchomping at the bit for weeks. Paton has talked about the need for thoughtful decisions, sticking to plans, getting input, crunching the numbers, and all of us being on the same page. Paton made the most pedal-to-the-metal move when he traded for Russell Wilson, taking all of that aggressiveness, composure, thoughtful analysis, consensus-building and football prudence, and mashed it all together. Paton turned a detail-oriented career as a scout into a steady, highly productive climb up the ladder into his first general manager gig as some in the league wondered if the everything-in-its-place Paton had this wild side. They don't need wonder anymore. The top 100 free agents.
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He dealt Von Miller to the Broncos just after Halloween in order to get more draft picks and on Tuesday he swung for the fences to land Wilson. It was a deal that was weeks in the making, a deal to which Wilson has given his blessing with one of the few real, rock-solid no-trade clauses in the league and a deal that is one of the biggest in NFL history.
Paton was able to sprinkle in a little pragmatism because Wilson is 33 years old and has missed three starts in his career because of injury. Manning was 36 when he joined the Broncos in 2012 and missed the previous season after his fourth neck surgery.
Wilson has a lot of prime seasons left if things go as the Broncos hope. The Broncos faithful have been talking about a solution at quarterback for almost a year, and it has been Wilson and Rodgers who have been the fuel for that almost constant fire of discourse.
The young guy is in that equation.
When asked if he would be willing to part with multiple first-rounders to make a deal he wanted, Paton said:
If we have to give a little to get a player, we can do it and it isn't going to hurt you in the draft. Everything is on the table.
The Broncos had to give up a lot to get Wilson, including Drew Lock, who they obviously weren't sold on. The defensive end and the tight end will have to be replaced.
Two first-round picks, two seconds and a fifth were surrendered by the Broncos. If a team is serious about the draft, those types of picks usually yield starting players.
Paton has a lot riding on this -- in a nutshell Wilson and a fourth-round pick in exchange for three players and the picks to secure possibly five more starters -- but he kept his word. He was ready to do everything he could to stop both the team's turnstile at quarterback and the growing string of playoff misses.
A team which has acquired four of its top five passers in franchise history -- John Elway, Manning, Jake Plummer and Craig Morton -- from someplace else has added another big man to the list.
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