The Denver Broncos recently had a glimmer of hope after a disastrous 2022 season and a poor start to this season. But they have lost three of their last five games, and thus that hope has disappeared, like a pocket of warm air radiating out one’s front door on a freezing winter night.
They recently made the decision to bench quarterback Russell Wilson, even though he has played much better this year than last, at least statistically. They have an 8-8 record, and even though they got a win last week over the Los Angeles Chargers, they have been eliminated from playoff contention.
The rosters for this season’s Pro Bowl were announced on Wednesday, and while three Broncos players — Justin Simmons, Patrick Surtain II and Marvin Mims Jr. — made the AFC team, Wilson believes wide receiver Courtland Sutton was snubbed.
As Wilson pointed out on his social media post, Sutton has scored 10 touchdowns this season. But he has put up a mere 770 receiving yards, which isn’t quite a Pro Bowl-caliber stat.
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Instead, Tyreek Hill, Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen and Ja’Marr Chase will be the wideouts for the AFC’s entry in this year’s flag football game. Hill and Cooper will be the starters for the AFC, while CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown have earned that honor for the NFC.
There is speculation that Denver will release Wilson at season’s end. If it does, it would be at least tacitly admitting that trading for him during the 2022 offseason was a big mistake.
The team gave up three players and five draft picks to acquire the 35-year-old Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks. One of those picks yielded cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who was named to the Pro Bowl.
What has made this trade worse from the Denver point of view is the huge extension it gave him just prior to last season for five years for $245 million, as well as the fact that it simply hasn’t had the horses around him to compete for a Super Bowl championship.
While Sutton and fellow Broncos wideout Jerry Jeudy are solid playmakers, neither can legitimately be called Pro Bowl-level receivers.
