Broncos QB Russell Wilson Sends Bold Message to Future Free Agents

The Denver Broncos are a team on the rise. Although this is one of the winningest and most storied franchises in the NFL all-time, the bloom has fallen off the rose over the past six seasons of playoff-less ineptitude.

At least, that's the national perspective. And why does that matter? Because whatever the national perception of the Broncos is, it's safe to say that the players — and prospective free agents — across the NFL buy it hook, line, and sinker.

That makes it a tad more difficult to recruit come free agency. But if this year's schedule is any indication, the Broncos' national profile is rising back into the limelight, as evidenced by the whopping five primetime games the NFL gave Denver.

If the newly-paid Russell Wilson has his druthers, the Mile High City will become a "destination location" for NFL free agents across the fruited plain.

"To me, what it was really about was being able to win championships and being able to have enough space in the salary cap so George can make his magic and we can get guys like [OLB] Randy Gregory when he comes on the team or other great players," Wilson said last Thursday as he celebrated the five-year, $245 million extension he signed with the Broncos. "We want to make this a destination location. It’s one of those things [where] we have an amazing tradition, amazing football team."

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At the peak of the Peyton Manning era in Denver, the Broncos were absolutely a "destination location" for free agents. DeMarcus Ware, T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, and Emmanuel Sanders are just a handful of NFL veterans who took perhaps a little less money to hitch their star to the Broncos' wagon.

It paid dividends for them, as every player mentioned above helped bring home the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 50.

No doubt, the Broncos are oozing tradition. The name still carries some cache, even if it's lost some of its luster of late.

Having a franchise quarterback firmly entrenched is the first step toward gaining some of that profile back. The next is winning football games on Sunday.

Wilson aims to do that with gusto.

"My focus—obviously, my number one focus was winning," Wilson said. "That’s why I came here, was to win. My number one focus was winning and doing everything, the whole process of that. We’re on that journey right now and looking forward to it."

When Wilson was introduced to Denver media back in March, he laid down the gauntlet in the AFC West, making it clear that he aims to finish his career with the Broncos and hang a few more Lombardi Trophies in the case at UCHealth Training Center.

“My goal is to play 10 or 12 more years and hopefully win three or four more Super Bowls," Wilson said back in March. "That’s the plan. That’s mindset. That’s why I came here, to hopefully be able to finish my career here, and to finish on top as a champion and do it multiple times. That’s my mindset.”

The Broncos have laid the initial groundwork to ensure Wilson has the opportunity to finish his career here. The nine-time Pro Bowler is under contract through the 2028 season.

Entering his age-34 season, Wilson will be 40 years old when his current contract is up. Who knows what will transpire between now and then?

Seven years is a good number to start with. That number holds some Mile High Meaning.

That leaves Wilson plenty of time to finish the business of winning three or four more Super Bowls. Four rings in seven years? It's ambitious.

But I wouldn't put it past the winningest starting quarterback in NFL history through his first 10 seasons. Take it by the inch, it's a cinch. By the yard, it gets hard.

First thing's first: Wilson and the Broncos have a road date with the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football and the only way to appropriately start off this exciting new era in the Mile High City would be by vanquishing his former team of 10 years and getting that particular monkey off his back.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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