The 49ers should rejoice in the news Russell Wilson is being traded from the Seahawks to the Broncos, and there are some clear-cut winners and losers in the wake of the deal.
It’s an end of an era with the Seattle Seahawks.
But Tuesday’s blockbuster deal that saw star quarterback Russell Wilson dealt from the Hawks to the Denver Broncos is more than just an end of an era for Seattle.
It also marks an end of an era that saw the San Francisco 49ers almost completely dominated by Wilson and their NFC West rivals, a stretch of time dating back to 2012 when Wilson broke into the league as a rookie.
Wilson’s trade signals the Seahawks are now looking at a rebuild, while Denver is going all-in amid a rough AFC West that could take over San Francisco’s own division as the toughest in the NFL heading into 2022.
But who won and lost as a result of the blockbuster?
Niner Noise, obviously biased in favor of the 49ers, explores who those biggest winners and losers may be.
Winner: 49ers
Well, duh.
Remember when Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told Chicago Bears fans at Soldier Field “I own you” last season? Well, he’s got a point. Rodgers boasts a 22-5 record against Chicago.
But Wilson isn’t far behind with regards to his domination over the Niners, going 17-4 in his career, including that 2014 NFC Championship game we won’t talk about.
Even when the Seahawks started falling apart last season, they still managed to sweet the season series over San Francisco, which made the 49ers’ push to get into the playoffs that much more challenging.
And about the only bragging right the Niners have had over Wilson and Co. over the last 10 years was that storybook victory in Week 17 at the tail end of the 2019 season. Not much more than that.
True, San Francisco plays Wilson and his new team this upcoming season, although one has to figure the 49ers are more than happy to only have to see Wilson once this year and then not again for what’ll be a long, long time.
Winner: Rest of the NFC West
The Niners aren’t the only team happy to see Russell Wilson depart the conference altogether. In fact, the entirety of the NFC West has to be thrilled one of the best quarterbacks in recent division history is now gone.
Wilson’s success hasn’t just come against San Francisco.
Overall, Wilson has gone 35-24-1 within the NFC West, but take a look at how he’s fared against each team within the division during the regular season:
- vs. Cardinals: 11-8-1
- vs. Rams: 8-12
- vs. 49ers: 16-4
Sure, Wilson hasn’t exactly dominated the rest of the division, as the bulk of his wins have come against the 49ers. That said, all one has to do is look at the path each team within the division will have to take to with the NFC crown.
The Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams should have a much safer path towards repeating, while the Arizona Cardinals may not have to worry so much about a late-season slump, often influenced by losses to Wilson and Co.
Putting it bluntly, the NFC West just got a lot weaker, and the three teams that had to face Wilson twice a year couldn’t be happier about it.
Winner: Broncos
The Broncos have been struggling to find themselves a starting-caliber quarterback ever since Hall of Famer Peyton Manning retired following the 2015 season. And 2022 was particularly rough after quarterback Drew Lock, who was part of the deal for Russell Wilson, flamed out and led to fellow signal-caller Teddy Bridgewater having to hold onto those duties, albeit with very little success.
As a result, Denver finished with a frustrating 7-10 record and a last-place finish within the AFC West, the second time in as many years it ended up in last place in the division.
Surprisingly, though, the Broncos have a solid roster on both sides of the ball. A young offensive line, strong running game, playmaking wide receivers in Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy and an offensive-minded head coach in newly arrived Nathaniel Hackett.
In a way, Denver had to make a deal like this.
The AFC West is now the toughest division within the NFL, at least in terms of quarterbacks, as the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert will be franchise centerpieces for a long, long time.
The Broncos now have their franchise centerpiece moving forward and a roster that can finally compete for a deep push into the postseason.
Loser: Derek Carr and the Raiders
What the Las Vegas Raiders did last season in the wake of former head coach Jon Gruden’s dismissal and the tragedy involving wide receiver Henry Ruggs was more than just admirable.
It was storybook, the Raiders getting into the playoffs despite those controversies.
Quarterback Derek Carr, long maligned after a lengthy stretch of merely OK play the last few seasons, also played exceptionally well as a team leader, helping his Raiders finish the regular season with four consecutive wins, a 10-7 regular-season finish and a trip into the postseason.
For all of Carr’s heroics, though, he still has to be regarded as trailing other AFC West quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.
Now, with Russell Wilson in the division, Carr is easily the fourth-best quarterback within the division.
The AFC West is experiencing an arms race right now, and Carr certainly will need to start playing at a level Raiders fans simply haven’t seen over the course of his career if Las Vegas is to keep the pace with Wilson and the Broncos, Mahomes and the Chiefs, and Herbert and the Chargers.
While there are still plenty of factors yet to be determined, an early assessment might point to Carr and the Raiders poised to replace Denver as the fourth-best team within the AFC West.
Loser: Seahawks WRs D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett
Imagine having a likely Hall of Famer like Russell Wilson throwing you the ball, then being asked to perform similarly with Drew Lock under center.
That’s essentially what the Seahawks are now asking wide receivers D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to do heading into 2022.
Again, it’s another scenario the Niners have to be thrilled at. Lockett, in particular, has torched San Francisco almost for as long as Wilson has, recording eight receiving touchdowns in his career against the 49ers, the most against any opponent.
Metcalf, meanwhile, enjoyed his best year as a pro in 2020 with 1,303 receiving yards en route to his first Pro Bowl nomination. And while some may have argued the former second-round NFL Draft pick had a “down” year last season, Metcalf still managed to put up 967 receiving yards and a career-best 12 touchdowns.
Sure, perhaps Seattle goes bold and engineers another blockbuster trade for a quarterback like the Houston Texans’ Deshaun Watson, helping rectify the move of Wilson. Or, just as possibly, the Seahawks find another hidden gem in the NFL Draft who’ll have a Wilson-like career.
But neither of those two scenarios have panned out yet, and it’s looking as if Lock will be the one responsible for “padding” Lockett and Metcalf’s stats this season.
Loser: Commanders
One of those teams on the hunt for a quarterback like Russell Wilson was the Washington Commanders, who reportedly aggressively pursued a trade with the Seahawks for his services, only to be beat out by the Broncos and Seattle’s desire to get Wilson out of the conference:
Washington offered high picks in the next three drafts to the Seahawks for QB Russell Wilson, per sources. But it became apparent to the Commanders that Seattle preferred to trade him out of the NFC.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 8, 2022
So Washington's QB hunt continues.
Washington is justified in its quarterback search, an effort to take advantage of an otherwise weak NFC East and to upgrade over last year’s starter, Tyler Heinicke.
With Wilson off the table now, head coach Ron Rivera and Co. were forced to settle on contingency plans, perhaps even looking at a deal with the 49ers for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who now might be the most competent and experienced option on the trade block.
Instead, the Commanders elected to trade with the Indianapolis Colts for embattled quarterback Carson Wentz, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Wentz and Garoppolo are nowhere near the same category as Wilson, and the Commanders certainly know this. Sure, Wentz might be an upgrade over Heinicke, but the Commanders lost the Wilson sweepstakes in a big way.