Sacked almost 400 times over his nine seasons as the starting quarterback for the Seahawks, Russell Wilson voiced his displeasure with the number of times he has been hit during his time with Seattle in an interview with The Dan Patrick Show two weeks ago.
Wilson also told Patrick he wants to be more involved with the team’s personnel decisions and talked about the (seemingly) unlikely possibility of the organization fielding trade offers for him.
Despite what the 32-year-old had to say on the show, it seemed ridiculous that the team would actually consider dealing him, especially because trading the eight-time Pro Bowler before June 1 of this year would trigger $39 million in dead-money charges against Seattle’s 2021 salary cap.
The prospect of the Seahawks trading Wilson still seems crazy, but it is certainly on the table, according to Michael-Shawn Dugar, Mike Sando and Jayson Jenks of The Athletic.
The growing rift between the team and the franchise quarterback is encapsulated by an incident that reportedly happened before a Thursday night game against the Cardinals following back-to-back losses to the Bills and Rams during which Wilson had seven combined turnovers.
“Before the Thursday night game against Arizona, Wilson met with his coaches,” per The Athletic. “For some time, Wilson has sought — even pushed — for influence within the organization regarding scheme and personnel. In the meeting, he outlined his own ideas for how to fix the offense. His suggestions were dismissed, multiple sources told The Athletic — another reminder to Wilson that the Seahawks did not see him the same way he saw himself, as a player who had earned greater control over his situation, his future, his legacy. He stormed out of the room.”
After storming out of the room in midseason, Wilson seems to be toying with the idea of shooting his way out of town this offseason.
According to The Athletic, members of Wilson’s camp have “broached” the idea of a trade with Seattle’s front office amid the quarterback’s rising frustrations with being hit and not having as big a voice in organizational decisions as he would like.
Wilson’s reps have even given Seattle a list of preferred landing spots for the veteran QB — and the Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets are on it.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter has a slightly different list of where Wilson, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, would be willing to go.
If the Seahawks were to even consider dealing Wilson, the organization and general manager John Schneider’s asking price would start at three first-round draft picks, according to NBC Sports Northwest. Considering Matthew Stafford, who has never won a playoff game let alone gone to two Super Bowls like Wilson has in his career, went for a package that included two first-round picks, the final price for Wilson would likely end up being much higher than three first-rounders.
“Some people around the league think a trade could happen, if not this offseason then sometime in the near future,” according to The Athletic’s report.
That doesn’t mean a trade will happen, but it certainly seems a lot more likely than it did even two weeks ago. Crazy, but stay tuned.
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