The Seahawks’ interest in negotiating with Russell Wilson supposedly corresponds to the QB’s desire to leave. (Getty)
Things have been pretty calm about Russell Wilson’s commercial rumors in recent weeks, but a recent report may shed some light on Wilson’s future with the Seahawks in 2021 and possibly beyond.
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In the Pro Football Network’s Draft Insiders, NFL insider Tony Pauline shared on Wednesday some of what he heard from a source “close to the situation” in Seattle. Pauline said that not only does Wilson want to leave Seattle, but the Seahawks seem to be just as interested in closing a deal as Wilson.
“What I was told by someone close to the situation yesterday is that the Seahawks want to negotiate Russell Wilson as much as Wilson wants out of Seattle, which surprised me,” said Pauline.
But before you start thinking that the Seahawks will negotiate with Wilson at any time, Pauline doesn’t believe a deal is going to happen – this year, at least.
“It is going to be difficult for this to happen this year because of Russell Wilson’s salary cap number and the fact that you have a deflated salary cap,” he said. “The salary cap (2021) has just reached ($ 182.5 million, down from $ 198 million in 2020). So this is going to make it very difficult for the Seattle Seahawks to move Wilson. Or at least that’s what people are telling me. They’re also telling me that if they can’t move it this year, which they don’t expect to happen, this will be Russell Wilson’s last season in Seattle. “
If Wilson were traded before June 1, the Seahawks would eat a maximum of $ 39 million in 2021, but that number will decline after June 1 and the next off-season.
With regard to what Pauline said about the team’s interest in negotiating with Wilson to match the quarterback’s interest in a fresh start, the former NFL quarterback Brock Huard thinks that may be the case for an important part of the Seahawks organization.
“I think (general manager John Schneider) and (vice president of staff for players) Trent Kirchner and those guys in the staff department and the team building environment … I think these guys are a little upset,” said Huard at Thursday at ESPN 710 Danny and Gallant of Seattle. “I’m not saying that firsthand, I haven’t talked to (Schneider or Kirchner) or those on the front line.”
Huard and his co-host of Brock and Salk, Mike Salk, said the Seahawks board is probably more upset by Wilson’s end-of-season comments on passing protection than coach Pete Carroll, the team’s technical staff and even some of the Seattle players because the reception The scouting department is ultimately the one who finds the players who are hired, negotiated or recruited.
Huard compared how Seahawks board members are feeling with what parents feel when they are upset with their child.
“That line between being angry and disappointed,” he said. “I think they were crazy originally and initially (with) the whole Dan Patrick thing (thinking about Wilson) ‘you are better than that.’ And now all of this continues and the exchange (partners) that he would be willing to do and the ridicule of it, now I think it reaches a level of disappointment. “
The COVID-19 pandemic can also play a role in this protracted situation and growing more than in a normal year.
“Distance creates that. They are not close to each other, they cannot have contact, there are no practices, there is no routine to enter and I think that the distance probably creates disappointment too ”, said Huard.
Is the writing on the wall?
Danny O’Neil questioned whether it is a foregone conclusion that Wilson’s relationship with the Seahawks is now at a point where it can no longer be recovered, compared to when a couple starts sleeping in separate beds before an eventual breakup or divorce. Huard said there is a chance that the Seahawks will change Wilson’s opinion, and that starts next week.
“I think it will depend on what happens here starting next week at a free agency,” said Huard. “I think it will depend on what you can do in the draft. I think it depends on the reformulation of this list that happens every year. “
Huard said that, on average, most NFL teams see 30-35% of their lineups turn over every year through free agency, draft and exchange. If the Seahawks can add some better pieces around Wilson, Huard thinks the drama of that off-season may be a thing of the past.
“I think it will depend on these pieces and their appearance, and what Mr. Wilson and his team think (the movements that the Seahawks make),” he said, “and whether they legitimately reinforce their chances and their beliefs that they they can win this division again, and ‘We are not going to miss a playoff game at home because we are a better football team in terms of talent and staff than the one that ended the 2020 season’ ”.
You can listen to Huard’s full discussion with Danny and Gallant on the Blue 42 segment that starts the podcast on this link or on the player below.
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