Former player doesn’t rule out Russell Wilson-Broncos split after 2023

Keyshawn Johnson feels that Russell Wilson will be the scapegoat, and not Sean Payton, if things don’t go according to plan for the Denver Broncos this season.

This is an especially critical year for Russell Wilson as the Denver Broncos’ starting quarterback.

To say Mr. Unlimited fell off a cliff after being traded over from the Seattle Seahawks would be putting it lightly. Although his former head coach Nathaniel Hackett was completely over his skis, Wilson was arguably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL last year. New Broncos ownership was able to pry Sean Payton off the FOX studio set, but even he might not be able to fix Wilson.

ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson put it bluntly when talking about the Wilson-Payton partnership. He said on NFL Live that if things don’t go well in Denver this season, there will be wholesale changes at the quarterback position. Wilson’s bad play will not put Payton’s job in peril. Remember Johnson played wide receiver for the 2004-05 Dallas Cowboys when Payton was the offensive coordinator.

If Denver were to be hot garbage again, the Broncos could be picking in the top five with a fantastic opportunity of making USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye the next face of Broncos Country. Should Wilson be so far gone physically, you would have to cut bait if you are the Broncos’ front office. Heck, this move might even cost general manager George Paton his job.

Johnson’s take on the situation may be a tad harsh, but we have to appreciate his honesty in this.

2023 could be Russell Wilson’s last year with Denver Broncos if he plays poorly

Let’s hope last year was an anomaly for Wilson and not a recurring trend. Otherwise, can we induct Pete Carroll into the Pro Football Hall of Fame immediately for being able to contend for championships with one of the most insufferable quarterbacks of all time? Payton is no saint either, especially after jumping ship on the sinking New Orleans Saints as self-righteous jetsam.

I’m not saying he Chip Kelly’d himself by going to the AFC West’s San Francisco 49ers, but why didn’t he wait to take a better job? Brandon Staley is going to wreck the Los Angeles Chargers’ rocking ship into a reef somewhere out there in the deep blue something. They have Justin Herbert. Denver has Wilson. No common ground to start from other than Breakfast at Tiffany’s…

We are one season away from the Broncos having the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. If not for Gang Green’s inherent Jettiness, it should have happened last season. For now, Payton, Wilson and the Broncos have a job to do, which is to somehow find a way to win 10 games in the same division as the Chiefs and the Chargers and hope that is good enough to be the No. 7 seed.

Payton will be fine, but Wilson must prove he is no longer washed after leaving Washington state.