Russell Wilson will have a lot of pressure squarely on him this season. Last season, Wilson joined the Denver Broncos in a blockbuster offseason trade. The Broncos’ acquisition of Wilson had many experts optimistic about them. But it turned disastrous very quickly. Wilson mightily struggled, and the team went a dismal 4-13.

But 2023 will hopefully bring more optimism and more optimal results. The Broncos hired Sean Payton to replace Nathaniel Hackett this season. Wilson will still be under center, and expectations remain high. However, not everyone is bullish on the situation. Ex-NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum made a brutal prediction about how he sees the season playing out for the Super Bowl champion.

Tannenbaum joined ESPN’s Get Up and said the following, “I would be shocked if Russell Wilson was the starter for 17 games this season.”

“I would be shocked if Russell Wilson was the starter for 17 games this season. … If Russell Wilson has the smallest bump in the road, he will be benched.”

—@RealTannenbaum pic.twitter.com/F75rMMJias

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) August 24, 2023

“The conversations that Sean Payton is having with ownership is: Year 1 is about culture and accountability. It’s Bill Parcells’ approach, and he’s going to see Russell Wilson as an opportunity to hold players accountable. And when there’s a bump in the road, Greeny, what’s gonna happen is he’s really talking to Jerry Jeudy, Garrett Bowles, the young nucleus of this team to say, ‘The standard is the standard, and if I bench Russell Wilson, I can bench you.’

“And I know the way Sean thinks. He, I’m just telling you, if Russell Wilson has the smallest bump in the road, he will be benched, and Sean’s gonna look at it as an opportunity to set the culture and the standard moving forward.”

Tannenbaum’s prediction isn’t necessarily far-fetched based on performance, but it would still be rather shocking to see Wilson get benched so swiftly. The NFL has seen its fair share of twists and turns, but this could be a bridge too far.

The NFL world reacted to the news.

Mike Tannenbaum just be saying anything https://t.co/PXdXrVE8IY

— Kang the Conquer Variant #9 (@BAllenII) August 24, 2023

I said this to a group of my friends the other day “Over/Under week 9.5 before Russ gets benched this season” https://t.co/KLi6rxJBCh

— Jordan Gomez (@Jordan_Gomez11) August 24, 2023

If Russ is so bad this year that he gets benched, I could see a lot of our good players get traded before the deadline.

We’d have to completely commit to the rebuild https://t.co/8spW6v8WT7

— ⭒ (@MileHighEli) August 24, 2023

Bro can’t even fall back to commercials like Baker.. they were so cringe

— JAY backed by eth (@jaypeggerz) August 24, 2023

I hear Trey Lance is available.

— Cheryl Ito (@ayako38) August 24, 2023

[Get Up]