Moving on from Fangio opened the door for Wilson to become a Bronco

A little over a year ago, the rift between Russell Wilson and the Seahawks became public. And at the time, the quarterback’s agent said his client would only waive his no-trade clause if he was dealt to one of four teams.

Wilson was willing to go to the Bears, Cowboys, Raiders or Saints. That was it. No one else made the QB’s wish list.

Fast forward a year and things changed. Dramatically. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Broncos were the only team that Wilson was willing to be traded to this time around.

“A couple teams had talked to Seattle about trading for Russell Wilson,” Rapoport said. “The Washington Commanders were among the teams that made an offer. It was a big offer, as good or even better than this. Russell Wilson wanted to go to the Denver Broncos. It’s a place he likes. It’s near his family. It’s on the West Coast, and they have a roster that is essentially stacked at receiver, on defense, at running back. All they needed was a quarterback, and they got one.”

That’s certainly flattering to the Broncos. It’s also a smart thing for Wilson to leak, considering he wound up landing in Denver; there’s no reason to let the fan base know that he was flirting with other suitors.

Whether or not the Broncos were the “only” team Wilson was willing to accept a trade to is kind of a moot point. The bigger issue is the fact that Denver went from off the list to on the list in 12 months.

That begs one very simple question: What changed?

According to Rapoport, there were a lot of things about Denver that Wilson liked. But almost all of those things were in place a year ago.

It’s a place he likes? The city hasn’t changed in 12 months.

It’s near his family? See above.

It’s on the West Coast? Not really, but certainly not more so than a year ago.

The Broncos have a roster that is stacked at receiver, on defense and at running back? Jerry Jeudy, Tim Patrick and Courtland Sutton were all in Denver last year. It can be argued that the defense had more talent, with Von Miller still in town and Bradley Chubb not coming off of a zero-sack season. And while they didn’t have Javonte Williams yet, the Broncos did have Melvin Gordon at running back; as we saw in 2021, they’re very similar backs in terms of production.

So essentially, nothing changed. At least not the things cited by Rapoport.

But everyone in Broncos Country knows that things have changed. In a major way.

For one, George Paton isn’t a new, green general manager. A little over a year into his tenure in Denver, Paton has proven to be more than a capable GM. His first draft was very good. He’s made some shrewd trades. And he’s shown to be thorough in everything he undertakes.

Which leads to the big change. After an exhaustive search, Paton found a new head coach.

A year ago at this time, Vic Fangio was still at the helm. Coming off of two seasons in which he went a combined 12-20 and didn’t show any signs that things would turn around soon, he wasn’t much of a lure for Wilson or anyone else.

Fangio had a bad record, made terrible in-game decisions, was old-school in all of the wrong ways and generally wasn’t very pleasant to be around. That’s not attractive to most people. It certainly wasn’t to Wilson.

To say the quarterback has a positive personality would be a ridiculous understatement. He’s always upbeat, no matter the situation.

And he’s always played for a coach that shared that trait. Pete Carroll is the biggest rah-rah head coach in the NFL; he’s ultra-positive.

Going from Carroll to Fangio would’ve been a shock to the system. It would’ve had zero appeal to Wilson.

But Nathaniel Hackett? That’s a different story.

Anyone who has been paying attention the last two months has spotted the energy and enthusiasm that Hackett has brought to the job. The Broncos new head coach has been a breath of fresh air, a complete 180 from his predecessor.

Hackett is positive, excited, innovative and creative. He’s an outside-the-box thinker. He’s a leader for the 2020s, not one stuck in the 1980s.

That’s why Wilson was excited about coming to Denver this time around. Instead of playing for Fangio, and having to operate Pat Shurmur’s offense, he’d get to play for Hackett, running a West Coast system that he’s familiar with from his time in Seattle.

That was the difference maker. It’s not hard to figure out.

Yes, things changed in some of the other cities that were of interest a year ago. The Cowboys gave Dak Prescott a big contract. The Bears drafted Justin Fields and changed head coaches. The Raiders fired Jon Gruden and hired Josh McDaniels. And the Saints moved on from Sean Payton to Dennis Allen.

But those moves didn’t change Wilson’s mind. The Bears are every bit as attractive as they were a year ago. So too are the Raiders and Saints.

The big change was that Denver became a viable option. And it turned into one because the Broncos made a coaching change.

If Vic Fangio was still in charge, Russell Wilson wouldn’t be a Bronco. Moving on from a bad coach and bringing in one with a bright, promising future was the difference maker. Nathaniel Hackett is why there’s a new QB in Denver.

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