Getty Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson poses with his jersey.
One of Russell Wilson’s former teammates made a surprising prediction for the Denver Broncos.
In an interview with Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today Sports, former Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright predicted that the Broncos will finish last in the AFC West.
“I have the Raiders. Then, I have the Chargers at number two. I got the Chiefs finishing third.”
When asked about how many AFC West teams will make the playoffs, Wright said only three teams will make it.
“You got to look at it from a holistic standpoint. You got to look outside of the quarterbacks, what’s on the other side of the ball, what’s on defense. I just look at the defenses. I believe the Broncos have some pieces, but I don’t know if it’s going to be enough to slow down these weapons in this division. It’s going to be tight, but only three are going to make it.”
It is not surprising that Wright picked the Las Vegas Raiders to win the division, considering Wright played for them last season. Still, picking the Broncos to miss the playoffs altogether is bold.
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Wright Has Been Critical of Wilson in the Past
This is not the first time Wright has been critical of Wilson. On January 31, Wright spoke to Dick Fain on 93.3 KJR, and he placed some of the blame for the Seahawks’ struggles on Wilson’s contract.
“You never want to count anybody’s pockets, but if you have all this money and your goal is to win, then you have to take a little bit less to eat so everybody can eat. We saw how Brady did it and look at him now.”
Last season, Wilson carried a cap hit of $32 million, which was the largest in the NFL per Spotrac.
Wright Had an Excellent Tenure With the Seahawks
Wright and Wilson were teammates for nine years with the Seahawks.
Wright enjoyed a lot of success during his time in Seattle. He was a starter on the Seahawks’ championship team in 2013. In 2016, Wright was selected to the Pro Bowl after recording 126 combined tackles and a career-high 4.0 sacks.
In his lone season with the Raiders, Wright had 51 combined tackles across 17 games.
Despite appearing in every game, he did play a reduced role. For the season, he played in only 37% of the Raiders’ defensive snaps. His previous career-low was 74% in 2018.
Wright is currently a free agent, and he has expressed interest in returning to the Seahawks.
On the Half-Forgotten History show, Wright told Trey Wingo that he wants “to go back home”.
“I just want to go back home. I think it’s that simple. Seattle knows that I want to come back. They know how much they mean to me.”
It remains to be seen if the Seahawks are interested in bringing back the veteran in the midst of a rebuild. Wright is still a talented player, but the Seahawks are not operating in win-now mode.