The Russell Wilson updates keep coming and the picture they paint is hard to fathom. This is a superstar quarterback. A seven-time Pro Bowler who has carried that team to the playoffs almost every year since he was drafted in 2012. He helped them win a Super Bowl his second season and is already the franchise passing leader before his 33rd birthday. Now after throwing a career-high 40 touchdowns and going 12-4 in 2020, it appears things are falling apart.
Wilson reportedly requested more input on the direction of the franchise after the season ended. He wanted greater investments in the offensive line and a shift to a more pass-heavy system that would give him more freedom. The Seahawks brushed him off. A decision that didn’t sit well with the quarterback. So he took his grievances public and then threw down the gauntlet by providing a list of teams he’d willingly be traded to.
Ever since then, people have watched and waited for a bomb to drop.
There are those who remain unconvinced it can possibly happen like that. There is no way Seattle would be dumb enough to trade their franchise star, right? Yet this is the NFL. Crazy stuff happens all the time. Everybody saw Houston completely botch the Deshaun Watson situation. There is no reason to think the Seahawks couldn’t do the same. It isn’t good.
Mike Silver of NFL Network has hinted for the past week that the relationship between the quarterback and team brass is icy. Enough to where it’s trending towards a breakup. Fellow insider Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network added even more gas to the flames when he dropped a minor bomb during his Draft Insiders podcast.
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“What I was told by somebody close to the situation yesterday is that the Seahawks want to trade Russell Wilson as much as Russell Wilson wants out of Seattle. Which kind of surprised me.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1U0NTA4kFI&ab_channel=ProFootballNetwork
More proof things between Russell Wilson and the Seahawks are bad
Insiders like Silver have pointed out multiple times what is happening in Seattle didn’t just pop up overnight. This is something that has been building for the past couple of years. The Seahawks have floated the idea of trading Wilson in the past. They considered doing so in 2018, calling the Cleveland Browns about the #1 overall pick. In the end, it didn’t happen but that was clear evidence all things were not well in the Pacific Northwest.
Now after two more disappointing playoff exits and more than 80 additional sacks, frustrations appear to have boiled over. Russell Wilson wants changes. Head coach Pete Carroll isn’t willing to make them. Now there is real momentum building for the 32-year old quarterback to be sent packing with a team like the Chicago Bears poised to take advantage. It genuinely feels like a matter of when it happens, not if.
Could it all end in anticlimax?
Sure, that remains a possibility. Seattle might have second thoughts and decide to cave to the demands of their quarterback. Still, everything points to the outcome being a breakup. It is challenging. Many believe the Seahawks won’t do it this year because of the massive dead cap hit they’d incur. That seems to be somewhat overblown. Essentially they would add an additional $7 million hit to their cap in 2021 if he’s traded before June 2nd. However, they would then gain $37 million in space next year.
If they were to wait to trade him in 2022, they’d still be saddled with a dead cap hit of $26 million. The bottom line is if the relationship is really irreparable, then they aren’t going to let finances drive the decision.
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