The popularity gap between the mighty NFL and every other sports league in the United States was on display Tuesday as the football league served up a blockbuster trade and star-player signings, while Major League Baseball's labor lockout, having canceled both the traditional spring training and opening day, stretched into its 97th day.
On a March afternoon that should've coincided with the Padres and other teams playing baseball in Arizona or Florida, the talk of the sports world was the NFL trade that sent Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowler who's 33, to the Denver Broncos.
Wilson led the Seattle Seahawks to a pair of Super Bowls and their only Lombardi Trophy, becoming more popular in the Pacific Northwest than Chargers Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts was in San Diego.
He launched his NFL career as a third-round draft pick in 2012 after deciding that, while he enjoyed baseball, and was good enough for the Colorado Rockies to invest a fourth-round pick in him two years earlier, the better sport for him was football.
Football fans gabbed also about the Green Bay Packers and NFL MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, 38, agreeing to a contract Tuesday that, if not unexpected, reminded everyone that NFL economics work nicely for all market sizes.
While Chargers fans crossed their fingers in hopes Denver won't soar as it did after a Super Bowl-winning quarterback chose to join the AFC West a decade ago, most of them welcomed the news receiver Mike Williams, 27, will return to Team Spanos on a three-year contract.
Other than the NFL as a whole, the biggest winners Tuesday were the Broncos and Wilson. Entering this week, they had no realistic chance of challenging for a Super Bowl in the coming football year.
Denver's quarterback was Drew Lock, whose three-year tenure was plagued by erratic decision-making and injuries.
Lukewarm play by the likes of Lock, Joe Flacco, Case Keenum and Trevor Siemian had fueled six consecutive losing seasons for a franchise whose eight Super Bowl appearances lead the AFC West.
While it's possible his best years are behind him, Wilson has ranked among the NFL's top-10 in Total Quarterback Rating in every season since earning the starting job as a rookie.
The ruptured and dislocated right middle finger he sustained last season on a pass rush by his longtime NFC West nemesis, Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, sidelined Wilson for three games and appeared to hinder him in a few more contests. Nevertheless, the career-low rating (54.7) he posted ended up tied for ninth in the NFL.
Wilson's consent was needed to complete the trade, and recalled Peyton Manning signing with Denver in March 2012 after spending a decade-plus with Indianapolis.
Manning was a five-time All-Pro who'd taken the Colts to a pair of Super Bowls following the 2006 and 2009 seasons, winning one. At 36 and coming off several neck surgeries, he was past his physical prime, but the Hall of Famer's attention to detail and accuracy were still elevating..
Manning said a pair of young, large receivers on Denver's roster, Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, influenced his decision.
Wilson leaves behind two very good receivers with whom he enjoyed rare chemistry — D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett — but the Broncos have a promising core of young playmakers headed by receivers Courtland Sutton, 26, and Jerry Jeudy, 22, and running back Javonte Williams, 21.
Defensively, Denver will be hard-pressed to match last year's unit that finished third in fewest points allowed. There's a decent nucleus, however, in 28-year-old safety Justin Simmons, who earned second-team All-Pro honors last year; cornerback Patrick Surtain, 21; and edge rusher Bradley Chubb, 25.
The Broncos sent five draft picks to Seattle, along with useful veterans in defensive tackle Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant. But second-year GM George Paton still has a young, salary cap-friendly roster that includes his 10 draftees of last year. And he has seven chips in this year's draft, including five between the second and fourth rounds.
If unlikely to lead Denver to four consecutive AFC West titles and .789 win rate as Manning did in his four seasons at high altitude, Wilson has already made the Broncos a top-10 contender on betting sites to win the next Super Bowl. The team's odds on BetOnline, for example, made a Rocky Mountain-sized jump Tuesday, from 25-1 to 12-1, tying the Broncos with the Super Bowl-champion Rams, behind only the Bills, Packers, Chiefs and 49ers.
It's a good sign for Broncos rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett, a former Packers offensive coordinator Rodgers has highly endorsed, that Wilson decided to green-light the trade.
For the Chargers, the fallout shouldn't be as harsh as the team's 1-8 record against the Manning-led Broncos, a stretch that began with Denver overcoming a 24-0 Monday night deficit in Mission Valley.
Justin Herbert is arguably a better QB than Wilson and will consume much less salary, in comparison (though Wilson's salary cap hits of $24 million and $27 million the next two years, per Spotrac, aren't heavy for a frontline veteran).
Herbert's meager $3 million salary for 2022 represents an enormous opportunity for Chargers team-builders, not unlike Wilson's first contract that Seattle parlayed into two Super Bowl berths.
Giving Williams a frontloaded contract that ESPN reported included $40 million in guaranteed money, was made easier by the QB's bargain salary.
If there's a stealth winner to Wilson joining the AFC West, it's the Bills. They've lost at Kansas City in the last two postseasons. With the Chiefs staring at three capable QBs in their own division — Herbert, Wilson and Derek Carr — the Bills' odds of grabbing the AFC's top seed have improved.
There's nothing complicated about the fallout in Green Bay. The agreement with Rodgers all but ensured the Packers a fourth consecutive first-place finish in the unimposing NFC North.
