ENGLEWOOD, COLO. — Denver Broncos Owner and CEO Greg Penner and general manager George Paton said Tuesday they believe in the quarterback’s future Russell Wilson and that his mediocre play for much of the season was not the determining factor in the decision to fire Nathaniel Hackett on Monday.
The two men, who are entering the franchise’s fourth head coaching search since January 2017 and the third since January 2019, also said they believe Wilson can return to the level of play from the start of his career.
“The decision to have Russell here is a long-term decision,” Penner said inside the team boardroom at the Broncos’ suburban Denver facility. “This season hasn’t lived up to his standards or his expectations. We’ve had some glimpses of that over the past few weeks. He knows he can play better, we know he can play better and we know he will do the right job in the offseason to be ready for next year.
The Broncos traded five draft picks, including a 2023 first-round selection who is now expected to be among the top three picks in next April’s draft, as well as three players in the Seattle Seahawks last March in exchange for Wilson. The Broncos then signed Wilson in early September to a five-year, $245 million contract extension.
But saving a few flashes in parts of games, Wilson has seemed out of sync all season, missing open receivers and unable to find much consistency. He’s on track for a career-low number of touchdown passes — he has 12 of his 13 starts — and was sacked a league-leading 49 times in those 13 games (3.8 sacks per game ) despite missing two games this season. .. to injuries.
If the 34-year-old Wilson gets drafted three more times in the final two games of the season, he’ll set a career mark in that category. The Broncos are also the league’s worst performing team with 15.5 points per game and have played 11 games this season while scoring 17 points or less, with nine of those 11 being losses.
But Penner and Paton each stressed that a coaching change was not made to fix Wilson but to get Wilson to play better as part of a critical review of “the whole organization”.
Russ even said he didn’t reach his level of play. … He’d be the first to tell you that he didn’t reach his level of play, didn’t reach our level of play, he’s got to be better,” Patton said. “I don’t think we did a practice move based on Russ. That wasn’t what it was about, that’s not why we have a new coach to overthrow Russ. It’s about the whole organization. …It’s not whether Russ is fixable or not. We believe it is, we believe it.
Penner also said Hackett wasn’t fired just for Wilson’s play or for the 37-point loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
“You have to look at the whole job. For a number of reasons, it just wasn’t the right fit,” Penner said.
Penner said the team is already evaluating candidates they hope to interview for the job and added “we have to get it right.” When asked if any of the current assistants would be considered for the job, Paton only offered defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero as a candidate he would like to interview.
The Walton-Penner Group, led by Walmart heir Rob Walton, was endorsed by the NFL in August as the new owner of the Broncos. Paton had already conducted the search and interviews for 10 candidates before Hackett was hired last January and the trade for Wilson was made in March, but the group was in place when the team signed Wilson for the extension.
Paton, who was hired in January 2021 as the team’s general manager, spoke on Tuesday about his decision to hire Hackett earlier this year, saying he “believed in the decision at the time”.
It didn’t work here [for Hackett], and it’s on me. I take full responsibility for where we are as a football team,” Paton said. “I brought in the head coach; I brought most of the players; These are my decisions and there is no one to blame but me. And I just want to be clear, it’s not just about coaching, it’s not just about Nathaniel. This is the whole football operation.
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