Dan Orlovsky has never been shy to stand up for the quarterbacks he believes in. And his latest passion project appears to be new Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller Russell Wilson.
Appearing on Monday morning’s episode of Get Up, Orlovsky discussed the current perception of Wilson. And in doing so, the ESPN analyst took issue with the idea that the nine-time Pro Bowl selection is damaged goods.
“We talk about Russell Wilson like he’s a castoff,” an exasperated Orlovsky said. “I don’t understand it. Maybe you don’t like the personality. Maybe you don’t. And maybe you don’t like the noise he brings with him or the persona. That’s your opinion. Have at it. But we have to be fair about what the player is or who he is on the field. The last four years he has like 110 touchdowns and 30 picks. The conversation around him has become stupid.”
As Dan Graziano noted, however, there is one major flaw in Orlovsky’s take.
“We talk about him about a castoff because he is a castoff,” Graziano said. “Because two teams in the last three years have cast him off.”
After Orlovsky tried to write off the Broncos releasing Wilson as being a financially motivated decision, Graziano pointed out that they took the largest cap hit in NFL history to make the move. In fact, Denver is effectively paying him $39 million to play for someone else.
“You talk about facts over feelings,” Graziano said, quoting a phrase that the former NFL quarterback had previously used in the segment. “Denver cast him off. That is actually true.”
From there, Orlovsky did his best to split hairs, noting that it was head coach Sean Payton who cast Wilson off, to which Graziano replied, “Sean Payton, the head coach of the Denver Broncos. I said Denver, right?”
Dan Orlovsky: "We talk about Russell Wilson like he's a castoff. I don't understand it!"
Dan Graziano: "We talk about him like he's a castoff because he's a castoff… you talk about facts over feelings, like, Denver cast him off. That is absolutely true." pic.twitter.com/DUSt827Hoo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 11, 2024
While the conversation surrounding Wilson might be more nuanced than this back and forth indicates, I’d score this as a 10-8 round for Graziano.
Orlovsky isn’t wrong to defend Wilson — and he has plenty of evidence to support his case. But taking issue with Wilson being considered a castoff is curious when Denver, did in fact, cast him off.
After Graziano seized on that opportunity, Orlovsky was left backpedaling, incorrectly writing off the Broncos’ release of Wilson as a financial decision, despite the historic cap hit Denver took in doing it. At that point, all Orlovsky could do was argue semantics over whether it was the Broncos or Sean Payton who released Wilson, as if there is any real distinction between the two.
The NFL’s new league year hasn’t even begun yet and Wilson has already provided plenty of fodder for the morning shows. But while it will be interesting to see whether he proves Orlovsky right in Pittsburgh, at the very least, he has already disproven Graziano’s previous take that it was possible that his next team would be ESPN.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.