Monday’s news that the Denver Broncos have informed quarterback Russell Wilson that he’ll be released on March 13 came as no surprise. The Wilson situation has been like a storm cloud lurking on the horizon, and it’s been edging ever closer for far too long.

In reality, everybody has seen the fallout coming ever since Broncos head coach Sean Payton unceremoniously benched Wilson with two games left in the 2023 season. Consequently, the process of battening down the hatches has been well underway at Broncos HQ.

At the NFL Combine in Indianapolis last week, the recruitment process got well underway, and it saw many potential rookie quarterbacks spinning in and out of the Broncos meeting room like a carousel. Identifying Wilson’s replacement is important, but dealing with huge financial ramifications of the $85 million in dead salary-cap the Broncos will have to live with over the next two seasons will also be crucial.

It could turn into a tsunami of bad press, a scenario that could drown Broncos GM George Paton and eventually punch his ticket out of town. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco was among the first to severely criticise Paton’s ill-fated trade for Willson.

“It is the worst trade of all time and it’s not even close,” Prisco said. “The Hershel Walker trade back in the day and the Cowboys fleeced the Vikings and were able to build their Super Bowl teams. But this is worse. You give up two ones, two twos and three players and then pay him for two years of bad play? It’s the worst trade in the history of the National Football League and it’s not even close.”

"It is THE worst trade of all time. And it's not even close."

– @PriscoCBS to @Hassel_Chris on the Russell Wilson deal pic.twitter.com/7JBiUgJtHK

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 4, 2024

Indeed, when you factor in the raft of premium draft capital and three experienced players it cost the Broncos to acquire Wilson, it’s hard to argue against Prisco’s assessment. What will sting a great deal more over the next couple of seasons will be the Broncos putting themselves in a salary-cap vice, and all for a player who will be playing elsewhere in 2024.

Taking the financial hit on the chin now guarantees that the roster rebuild will begin in earnest on April 25 because that’s when the Broncos must be bold and select their quarterback of the future. Names like Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., and Oregon’s Bo Nix will all come to figure prominently in the Broncos’ thinking, but trading away even more already scant draft assets can’t be ruled out.

Make no bones about it, the upcoming decision on who will be the next quarterback in Denver is more pressure loaded than perhaps at any point previously in the team’s long and illustrious history.

Some will argue that Paton should be allowed nowhere such pivotal decisions moving forward. Coming hot on the heels of the sorry Wilson saga, the team now rolls into the 2024 draft with a GM responsible for hiring Nathaniel Hackett and some particularly poor drafting in between.

Such criticism and questions about Paton are fair, so perhaps the only solace Wilson’s departure provides is the closure on a historically botched project. Ever since Payton entered the building, the writing was on the wall that Wilson wasn’t a picture-perfect quarterback for the Broncos new head coach.

Wilson’s jettison leaves the Broncos with some complex riddles to solve, with massive holes to fill on the roster beyond quarterback. The toxic recriminations will continue to come thick and fast — until time heals those deep wounds.

Until then, Broncos fans can expect the catastrophic Wilson trade to be featured stubbornly on the rundowns of the worst trades in NFL history for many years to come.