I am not saying that the Seattle Seahawks have any intention whatsoever of trading Russell Wilson. The star quarterback has led the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, defeating the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII and coming up just short against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX. With so much talent expected back, plus the huge acquisition of Jimmy Graham from the New Orleans Saints and a front office that absolutely excels in the NFL Draft, the Seahawks are likely to be a force to reckon with in NFL terms for many years to come.
The question is, will they be contending for multiple championships without the services of Wilson? Entering the final year of his rookie contract, Wilson and the Seahawks are reportedly nowhere near close to reaching a long-term agreement. If an extension cannot be reached, would Seattle ever consider trading its franchise quarterback? More specifically, would the Seahawks trade Wilson to the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles or Washington Redskins?
Let me make something clear. The Seahawks are not in discussions with any of these teams. To the best of my knowledge, no offers have been presented. No draft picks have been discussed. No phone calls have been placed. I don’t know if the Seahawks would even return a phone call that was placed to ask about acquiring Wilson.
But I do know that Wilson and the Seahawks are not close to a new deal. Seattle general manager John Schneider recently conducted an interview, in which he insinuated that the team will not break the bank for any one player. Not even Wilson.
“Every negotiation is unique in and of itself and this is no different,” Schneider said. “Ultimate team sport, he’s our quarterback, we’d love him to be our quarterback. But the thing is, we need to keep as many of these guys together as we possibly can. We have to be able to protect ourselves as we go and make smart decisions in trying to keep this whole thing together as long as we possibly can,” Schneider said.
Sounds as if Schneider is going to have an awfully difficult decision to make regarding his Super Bowl quarterback.
“What I can tell you is that this is the ultimate team sport, we have a track record of rewarding our players that we recognize as core players,” Schneider said. “We’re going into our sixth draft now — I can’t believe that; we’ve been here for a while now — but just that track record of being able to make those tough decisions.”
Wilson may also have a decision to make. Does he give the Seahawks a discount to remain part of a successful organization? Or will he try to force their hand by seriously considering making a baseball comeback with the Texas Rangers? Either way, this does not sound as if it has the makings of a situation that will bring a quick or smooth solution.
While it would be interesting to see the Seahawks discuss a trade during the 2015 NFL Draft, it is extremely unlikely. Sure, they could send Wilson to the Browns for their two first-round picks in 2015 plus future draft picks. After all, Wilson is an Ohio kid. Seattle could send him to the Redskins or Jets and move into the top six of the 2015 NFL Draft. They could move him to the Bills to complete their offseason of change. They could do any of those things.
Just don’t expect them to do anything. At least, not quite yet. Wait and see just how messy this situation gets, then you can really ramp up the speculation and rumors.
After all, if quarterbacks such as Jay Cutler, Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick can get an astronomical amount of money with nowhere near the level of success that Wilson has attained, just how much less is the Seahawks scrambler willing to take to remain in Seattle as part of team known for making “tough decisions?”
Give me a break…
This is wildly speculative… Who the hell would they start at QB? Tevaris Jackson is a bit of a question mark and its probably around a 0.000000001% chance the trade up to get a first round QB in the draft. Equally as likely they bank on drafting another franchise QB next year.
Russell loves baseball, and its an enormous contract. Of course it’ll take time to develop. Speculating a trade, considering all the variables, is ridiculous.
Pete Carol and John Schneider” Have reach a new low, and only bad things will come from this.
welcome to the world of cut throat business of player and franchise he made them millions and they throw him out like dirty laundry, SHAME ON YOU SEA CHOPS.
@Michael: are you kidding? The Seahawks are willing to pay Wilson a boatload. They are highly reluctant to go much above that number, which I’m guessing is probably around $20 million a year.
There comes a point though where a QB’s contract runs the franchise into the ground and leaves them no flexibility to remain competitive. Do you think Pete and John’s job is to take care of the best interests of Russell Wilson or is it to keep the Seahawks in Super Bowl contention? If the cost to retain Wilson gets too high then the two objectives become at odds with each other.
“Throw him out like dirty laundry” ?? Man, you need a reality check.
So in other words, I had to write an article today and just make a bunch of shit up.
How about reprinting a few of the Wild and Crazy Media driven comments about 6th round pick Tom Brady, who has lived through this kind of garbage?