Booger McFarland challenges Mike Greenberg over flawed Russell Wilson take

While the clear majority has been blaming the team for their mismanaged handling of the situation and are backing Russell Wilson given that he played significantly better this season, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg attempted to justify Wilson’s performance while blaming Denver for executing the trade. He argues that the team knew who he was as a player and they could not have been surprised at his performance.

Greenberg had this to say on the recent segment of ESPN’s Get Up,

You know who he was when you got him! I'm sitting here and I knew that. I've heard Richard Sherman talk, I've heard all these guys. The Legion of Boom guys talk about Russell. It was no secret who they were acquiring when they went out and acquired him. So, don't tell me turns out Russell Wilson is sort of a difficult personality...if the Broncos didn't know that and made that trade and signed him, shame on them.

Greenberg blames the team for its failure to gauge Russell Wilson as a player. Granted, the quarterback’s performance in his first season was just bad. If one saw him play this year, he was significantly better. But at some point, the onus has to shift from the team to the player. The Broncos took a chance on Wilson because of his consistency and the experience that he had shown when he was in Seattle.

The Denver Broncos have decided to release Russell Wilson despite taking a $85 million hit to their dead cap

Booger McFarland agreed with Greenberg to an extent, but he was surprised by the fact that Russell Wilson was not being blamed as much as he deserved to be.

You and I have been doing this for a long time and never before have I heard you make excuses for a player like you just did with Russell Wilson. At some point, the player has to step on the field and play...like the guy has to step on the field and play. We can blame everybody else, we can talk about the organization...but at some point, Russell Wilsons stepped between those white lines and his play wasn't to the level...

His play resulted in Sean Payton and the team losing faith in him. They are willing to take on $85 million of dead cap space by cutting Wilson. When a team goes to that extent to get rid of you, it is never a good sign.

Booger McFarland wants Russell Wilson to be blamed more for his failure to live up to the standards expected of him. There are only so many excuses that can be made for his disappointing play. At some point, he has to be held accountable.

He concluded by stating,

If Russell Wilson does not get the majority of the responsibility, then who is? He's the guy who is playing, he's the one who is throwing the football!

With this, the quarterback will have a hard time in earning the trust of NFL organizations. The last two years in Denver have damaged Russell Wilson’s credibility and have established the fact that he cannot be relied on to lead a team, at least not anymore.