QB Russell Wilson did not require negotiation from Seattle Seahawks, said the agent

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson did not demand a switch, his agent Mark Rodgers told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.

Rodgers said Wilson told the Seahawks he wants to play in Seattle, but if an exchange is considered, the only teams he will go to are the Dallas Cowboys, the New Orleans Saints, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Chicago Bears.

Wilson, 32, expressed frustration after the season with all the blows he received and declared his desire to have more say in the team’s personal decisions. These frank comments were out of the ordinary for Wilson, who had never publicly disclosed any complaints during his first nine seasons in the NFL.

Sources involved have argued to ESPN that Seattle did not approach Wilson with a potential business in place and that an exchange is unlikely. But other teams are noticing the tension that has been building for years, which The Athletic described in a report on Thursday. Executives from several leagues believe that Wilson will be available at the right price this or the next off-season due to this tension.

Wilson’s contract has a no-trade clause that he would have to waive in order to be traded.

The Seahawks, according to ESPN, made it clear to suitors earlier this month that Wilson would not be traded. Negotiating it before June 1 this year would generate $ 39 million in dead money charges against the Seattle wage cap for 2021. Wilson has three years remaining for the four-year extension, $ 140 million, which he signed in April 2019. This includes base salaries of $ 19 million, $ 19 million and $ 21 million.

Multiple sources confirmed to ESPN that Wilson left a meeting with Seahawks coaches last season, frustrated by his suggestions to fix the team’s attack, as reported in The Athletic. A source told ESPN that it was a “dark day”, with frustrations growing after a 44-34 loss to Buffalo Bills, but the problem was resolved quickly.

The incident occurred in the week of Thursday night’s Seattle game against the Arizona Cardinals in November. The Seahawks had lost two consecutive games and three out of four, coinciding with the worst turnover period in Wilson’s career.

Wilson had lobbied privately before the season for the Seahawks to play earlier and more often and publicly endorsed the “Let Russ Cook” movement that encouraged more Seattle offensives to pass its $ 35 million quarterback a year. During the first 10 weeks of the season, the Seahawks fell backwards to outperform any NFL team with 69.2%, according to ESPN charts.

But the 28-21 win over Arizona in Week 11 marked a reversal toward the heavy-handed approach that coach Pete Carroll had long preferred. Seattle was the 16th in drop rate in the last seven weeks of the regular season, with 62.4%. Carroll publicly signaled that change was coming.

Sources told ESPN that Wilson’s frustrations with the organization go beyond protecting passes and his perceived lack of voice in personal decisions in relation to other important defenders – the two issues he recently cited in public interviews. Wilson also wants more of Seattle’s attack to go through him, as reported in The Athletic.

The four teams Rodgers told Schefter that the defender would play – Dallas, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Chicago – are all led by offensive-minded coaches.

Wilson has been fired 394 times in 144 regular season games, including 47 in 2020. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, this is the peak in a player’s first nine seasons since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Seahawks have been eighth in ESPN’s block winning rate since 2017, which is indicative that some of Wilson’s sacks are a function of his propensity to extend play, as he acknowledged.