The Broncos had been concerned that newish Seahawks owner Jody Allen could pull the plug on the deal at the wire. Seattle, conversely, wasn’t 100% sure that Aaron Rodgers’s status wasn’t still hovering over a negotiation that stretched from the end of January into the beginning of March. But finally, on both sides, this was starting to feel very real.
About to leave the out-of-the-way Indianapolis bar that served as one of their rendezvous points during a series of secret combine-week meetings and head home for Seattle, Seahawks GM John Schneider handed Broncos GM George Paton his yellow valet tag, No. 16157, from the downtown JW Marriott. On the back was scrawled Schneider’s final proposal, if he were to agree to deal franchise quarterback Russell Wilson to Denver.
It read:
With a list of player names to follow.
And there they were, in front of Paton, the bones of a deal that took secrecy, time, strong relationships and a ton of capital to complete. It was Sunday, and by the time the sun set in Indianapolis, both guys would be on their way home, already knowing they were well on their way to fundamentally changing the foundation of two NFL franchises.
Less than two days later, Wilson was in Denver to sign a waiver to override his no-trade clause, take a physical and complete a massive trade that’ll become official on Wednesday.
This is the story of a deal that was years in the making, weeks in negotiation and as difficult to complete as any I can remember hearing about. It required, on one side, an organization uniting with its quarterback one final time to precipitate the right result for everyone—and one they all hope will lead to a happy reunion years from now. It necessitated, on the other side, a boatload of conviction in a single player from the leaders of a new regime, and mostly just two guys who barely knew each other a few months ago.
Yes, it took a to make Russell Wilson a Bronco. And we’re about to dive into all the details with you.
