Note: It’s taken me a long time to write this article. The Seahawks are my team, and I was as big a Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner fan as any “Twelve” around. Now, with the 2022 training camp well under way, I thought I would share some thoughts on the departure from Seattle of the two future Hall of Fame players; the last vestiges (Pete Carroll and John Schneider remain) of Seattle’s Super Bowl winning-Legion of Boom era. While, like many of you I imagine, I was initially shocked to hear Wilson had been traded to Denver, and that Wagner was released outright, after thinking it over I’ve come to believe that Carroll and Schneider did the right thing. Here’s why… MA

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As the 2021 season wound down to the off-season, the Seattle Seahawks first losing campaign since 2011, like most of you I heard the trade rumors swirling around Russell Wilson. I had a hard time believing them. Quarterbacks like Wilson don’t grow on trees, and at 33 years old the future Hall of Famer was still in great shape; still in his prime. Across the prior 10 seasons he led Seattle to the playoffs 8 times, in the process recording 4 NFC West titles, 2 NFC Championships and Super Bowl appearances and, of course, that dominant Super Bowl win over Denver following the 2013 season. During that 10 season stretch he completed 2,738 of 4,219 passes for 32,949 yards and 261 touchdowns with only 82 interceptions. His completion percentage through that time is 64.9, and with a career passer rating of 101.2 he is one of only 4 quarterbacks in NFL history with passer ratings over 100. One of the best dual threat quarterbacks in NFL history, he also rushed 771 times for 4,347 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and 20 TDs. Over the last 10 years his rushing totals as a QB are exceeded only by Cam Newton’s. He’s been voted to 9 Pro Bowls in his 10 campaigns and holds the record for most wins by an NFL quarterback through his first 9 seasons (98). With the Seahawks, Wilson won nearly twice as many games as losses (104-53) and he holds literally every meaningful team career passing record. His recent finger injury notwithstanding, Russell is not injury prone, playing his entire career without missing a game until he at last smacked his index finger against Aaron Donald’s helmet last season. Adding to all this is the fact that you never had to worry about any unethical behavior with Wilson; no embarrassing off-field or off-season antics; no DUIs or spousal abuse. Socially active in a positive way, through his entire career in Seattle he made a habit of regularly visiting ill or injured children in the hospital, and in 2014 he established his “Why Not You Foundation” with the purpose of supporting student access to equal education opportunities, children’s health and food security initiatives. In recognition of all this Wilson was the NFL 2020 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner. And then there are all the spectacular plays, game winning 4^th quarter drives and touchdown passes to the likes of Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, DK Metcalf and Jermaine Kearse—indelible moments, which, if you’re like me, you’ll never forget. Watching him play quarterback for the last decade for our team was truly special.

I could go on and on about Wilson’s positives, so why have I come to believe that trading him is the right thing to do? Most of it has to do with the nature of NFL economics and the salary cap, and what it takes to build a Super Bowl caliber team. Two seasons ago Russell signed his current contract, a 4-year, $140 million deal that at the time made him the highest paid quarterback in the NFL; an average annual salary of $35 million. With that contract the Seahawks incurred massive salary cap hits of $31 million in 2020 and $32 million in 2021. With the salary cap set at $198.2 million for 2020 and $182.5 million in 2021, the Seahawks were committing nearly 1/6^th of their salary cap to the quarterback position—a lot to put on one player. Having that much money committed to one player, even a great quarterback, is bound to impact a team’s ability to sign premium free-agent talent. So it was with the Hawks in my estimation; one reason why the team has struggled so much in creating a serviceable offensive line, which, incidentally, was one of Russell’s pet peeves.

On top of this, I considered the fact that by recent NFL history there are 2 ways, quarterback wise, to get to and win Super Bowls: the first being with an established, expensive NFL quarterback, such as Tom Brady of the Bucs in 2020 and Mathew Stafford of the Rams last year. And the other way, as with Wilson himself in 2013, Patrick Mahomes in 2019 and even Joe Burrow of the Bengals in 2021, is with young, excellent quarterbacks on their rookie deals, thus giving the team the latitude to spend on other quality players. Clearly, having a $30 million per year quarterback is not a necessity to win. Throw in the reality that Carroll is primarily a defensive oriented coach who loves to run the ball on offense, and you can see why “Letting Russ Cook” was not Pete’s preferred recipe and likely rubbed him the wrong way. The Seahawks Super Bowl teams featured the historically good, league leading Legion of Boom defense and a dynamic running game built around Marshawn Lynch. While it’s a stretch to say that any quarterback could have won championships with those teams, a good, young Russell Wilson could and did; something that hasn’t happened since the LOB and Lynch left the team.

Lastly, and this is just my opinion, based on his own statements over the last several seasons Wilson has become increasingly concerned about his legacy; how NFL history will perceive him. He obviously intends to be one of the all-time greats at the position, and at the end of the day he may very well be. I’m old school, however, and stating stuff like that to me smacks of putting one’s self over the team. Records and legacies are great, but I think they should be earned in the context of real team play, as players like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr and Joe Montana did. Obviously, I don’t know what Carroll thought about it, but Wilson’s legacy concerns are just a little too self-centered for my taste.

It was after evaluating all this that I at last concluded that Pete and John did the right thing in unloading Wilson to Denver for that incredible haul of players and draft picks. Time will tell if the 3 of us, and whoever of you agrees, are right.

As for Bobby Wagner, the way the all-time great linebacker was released, with him finding out about it through the media—an obvious faux pas by Carroll and Schneider—left a bad taste, not only in Bobby’s mouth, but for many Twelves as well.  By any measure, Wagner is one of the best at his position ever. In his ten seasons since being drafted in the 2^nd round by Seattle, he has accumulated 1,383 tackles, more than any current NFL player and 17^th all time. With another 100 plus tackles this coming season he will move into the top ten in NFL history. In addition, Bobby, an 8-time Pro Bowler, has been named first team All Pro 6 times since 2014, more than any other player in that time except his new teammate, Aaron Donald, who’s received the honor 7 times. Like Wilson, Wagner is remarkably consistent health wise, missing only one game last season and a total of 2 games since 2016. He’s also excellent at blitzing and pressuring the quarterback, with career totals of 23.5 sacks and 78 quarterback hits. His 76 quarterback pressures since 2016 are the 2^nd most for NFL linebackers, and he is a superb run stuffer as well. At 31-years old, the LA Rams figured Bobby still has some good years in him, and so signed him to a 5-year $50 million deal. From what I am hearing out of the Rams training camp Wagner is impressing one and all, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see another good season or two from him, though hopefully not against our team.

All that said, over the last few seasons the Seahawks defense has been in steady decline, last season ranking 28^th of 32 teams in yards allowed; a far cry from the LOB days, when the Seattle D was historically stingy. In pass defense the team was especially bad, allowing over 4500 yards, placing 31^st of the 32 teams. It’s hard to say how much of that decline is due to Wagner losing a step or two, as there have been many other defensive changes as well. By releasing Wagner when they did, however, the Hawks saved $16 million against the salary cap; money that can be used in the team rebuild to acquire younger, faster players. With young linebackers like Cody Barton and Jordyn Brooks waiting in the wings and new players coming in the draft and via free agency, the Seahawks figured Bobby Wagner’s time in Seattle had come to an end. While I disagree with the classless way they did it, I believe with all factors considered, moving on from Wagner was best for the team.

And so, for the first time in a decade the Seahawks will go into a season without Russell and Bobby, both sure Hall of Famers when the time comes, leading the offense and defense. Truly, their departure marks the end of an era for Seattle. But with every era ending, a new one begins; and though we don’t yet know what this one will bring, for we Twelves it’s going to be fun to find out.

Go Hawks!!