Two teams that wound up on Russell Wilson‘s list of acceptable destinations last year indeed pursued him in 2022. The Giants and Saints were among the teams to discuss the perennial Pro Bowl quarterback with the Seahawks, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com reports.
The Saints appear to have advanced further during this year’s trade talks. Seattle, however, knew Denver had become Wilson’s preference, so the team kept New Orleans in the mix to prompt an improved Broncos offer. It is unclear if the Broncos did so, as Wilson’s no-trade clause could block a Saints move. The 11th-year veteran’s initial destination list included New Orleans, along with Chicago, Dallas and Las Vegas. Of course, the Saints saw a rather notable change take place this year; Sean Payton walked away after 16 seasons. But Wilson became set on Denver this year.
Seahawks GM John Schneider, who initiated trade talks with the Broncos by texting George Paton at the Senior Bowl, apologized to the non-Broncos teams whom he told Wilson was not available. The Broncos had also become the Seahawks’ preferred trade partner, per Henderson, who writes in an expansive piece Schneider’s interest in Drew Lock drove that effort. Lock, whom Schneider was fond of ahead of the 2019 draft, will begin the season as Geno Smith‘s backup.
New Orleans, which later became a Deshaun Watson finalist, pivoted back to Jameis Winston after the Browns’ $230MM fully guaranteed offer changed Watson’s mind on a Cleveland stay. The Giants, who joined the Broncos in emerging as an acceptable Wilson landing spot late last year, will give Daniel Jones a final chance. The Commanders, who offered three first-round picks and change for Wilson, also joined the Browns, Eagles and Panthers in a wide-ranging Wilson pursuit.
Much of the gradual decay in the Seahawks-Wilson relationship has come out, but Henderson offered one reason Seattle was OK moving on. Although this divorce might not have happened had Wilson and Pete Carroll not butted heads continually during the early 2020s, multiple Seahawks front office staffers believed Wilson was in decline.
The nine-time Pro Bowler’s issues with the Seahawks ranged from Carroll’s run-first philosophy to the team’s offseason efforts — particularly along its offensive line — to fortify a contender, and the Broncos look to agree with Wilson that the Seahawks held him back. No team ran the ball more from 2012-21 than Seattle, and Henderson adds the Seahawks ranked 29th in designed pass-play rate over that time. The Seahawks, conversely, had come to view free agent O-linemen as overpaid commodities, per Henderson. During Wilson’s time on expensive contracts, the team did acquire Duane Brown and Gabe Jackson via trade.
Wilson’s 57.7 QBR ranks 11th in the NFL over the past 25 games, a stretch that began with a 2020 midseason dip following an explosive start. Wilson struggled after that hot, oft-labeled “Let Russ Cook” intro to the ’20 season and did not play well in the weeks following his 2021 finger surgery. He did fare better to close the 2021 season, however. Anonymous executives tabbed Wilson eighth among quarterbacks in both The Athletic’s annual quarterback tiers project and in an ESPN.com poll ranking each position. Although certain Seahawks coaches disagreed the 33-year-old passer was declining, the team moved on in March by picking up eight assets — including Lock, Shelby Harris, Noah Fant and two first-round picks — for the likely Hall of Fame-bound player.
Wilson has since signed a five-year, $245MM Broncos contract ($124MM fully guaranteed — second only to Watson’s outlay) and will attempt to craft a memorable second act. The Seahawks, who were reluctant to go through a third round of Wilson extension talks or pay the new going rate to the talented QB, are likely to be connected to 2023 first-round passers. If the franchise does go that route, it would not need to discuss a quarterback extension for at least four years.
There might be some truth to him declining as he is entering his age 34 season. He did miss three games last year, but still played at a high level when he was on the field. I think he’s skilled enough as a passer that he can stop running the ball as much and still be the captain of a very good offense. He’s still got some very good years in him IMHO. How many? Who knows. Denver needs to keep a good O-Line around him and they have a decent 1-2 punch with the running backs they have.
It is always better to trade somebody a year too soon than a year too late.
It was just evaluation time for the Seahawks, they have a lot of rebuilding to do and if they think it is going to take a few years to do this, why waste the money and some good years of Wilson when you can play somebody else and perhaps improve your draft stock because you aren’t really trying to win?
So John Schneider was apparently interested in Drew Lock which helped drive the trade, but they’re not even going to start him to see if he can be the QB moving forward, especially with an upcoming draft class that’s mocked to have as many as 4 QBs in the top 10?
That fondness has likely waned with an up close look.
That’s the first thing I thought of. He might be fond of Lock, but if he is sitting behind Geno Smith, that implies that you have no respect for his abilities.
I mean, you’re fond of Lock, but are starting someone with 5 starts in 6 years for four different teams? Makes no sense.
They have to give Geno the start but Lock will be playing before the season is over.
Why do they have to give Geno the start? it’s not like he’s a vet going to a new team trying to prove himself ala Baker. Lock is going to be 26 and his contract is up at the end of the year, don’t you want to know what you have in him?
Lock came into camp late then got covid. Probably hasn’t had enough time with the playbook. He’ll be starting by week 5 or so.
I don’t think so. Geno looked good last year. I think he’ll do too well for them to stick Lock in there
This is the same crew that liked Charlie Whitehurst and Matt Flynn. To his credit, Pete plays the best players, not the ones they spent the most on or liked the most on tape. Sending a fourth rounder to Denver for Drew Lock was a mistake. Dude isn’t an NFL starter.
How many times a team said this or thought this to only see their former Qb do well.
Well, Philly did this with McNabb and they were absolutely right.
San Francisco did it with Joe Montana of all people. He went on to have two decent injury shortened seasons in KC and did get them to the playoffs, but then he was done. So, they made the right move at the right time.
As for Wilson, you can see what I think of him and the situation in my other comment.
The last time someone sent an older QB to Denver he did pretty well.
I’d take 2 superbowl appearances and 1 title in 3 years, along with one recordbreaking season, one excellent one, and one that was apparently good enough to get the team to the superbowl.
But for every one of those you have a couple McNabb to Washington situations as No politics mentioned…I think Wilson still has a couple good years especially if they’ve built a good line and running game.
I’ve always thought the Giants should’ve traded Daniel Jones upon declining his 5th-year option. Unfortunately they couldn’t afford Wilson because Dave Gettleman provided a going-away present by leaving the Giants in cap hell.
RW wasn’t going to the Giants and no other team wants Jones. RW had a full no trade clause. Sorry to the Commanders too. He wasn’t going there either.
If the people who viewed Wilson as declining are the same people who viewed Drew Lock as an attractive target in trade, are we putting much stock in their view?
Wilson can be on the decline and also still be a viable win-now QB with a good roster around him. Both things can be true, just like it can be simultaneously true that the Seahawks were smart to hit restart for that trade haul and the Broncos were smart to go for it with a trade that massive for Wilson.
True, but the Broncos also thought Lock and Wilson are attractive targets. I suppose a declining Wilson is better than a hopeless Lock, but I digress.
The Broncos did pick Brock Osweiler ahead of Wilson in the 2012 draft…
Every team passed on Wilson. And the Broncos took a second round flier on Lock out of college. That’s different than thinking he’s an attractive target after what he’s done in the NFL.
Usually teams think draftees are attractive targets based on what they did in college…otherwise they do not draft them. Just sayin.
Yes, obviously. How is that similar to finding Drew Lock attractive after three years in the league?
It’s not like they made a one-for-one trade. In addition to Lock they got two first round picks and two more serviceable players.
Did I say otherwise? I didn’t refer to it as a massive trade because of Drew Lock. I’m dismissing the idea of valuing Lock enough to move the needle at all. And now he’s sitting behind Geno Smith.
Who is smarter remains to be seen. Seattle couldn’t build a championship roster around RW because they had no high draft picks to bring in talent and no cap room to bring in impact FA. Now, Denver has traded all of their draft picks to Seattle and gave RW the lions share of the cap. We will see if Denver can win a championship with no draft picks and no cap space and a 34 year old QB who holds the ball too long and then complains about taking hits.
Other than Metcalf and Locket, name another good player Seattle has drafted in the past 5 years. It is possible, that Wilson on the decline. There isn’t many QB’s in NFL history that can win with below average talent around them. I said this in 2019, if you had taken Wilson off of the Seahawks, they would be the Jets. Over the next 3 seasons, will be the deciding factor. Was Wilson declining. Or was it that the Seahawks just failed to build a team around him.
RW is a great player. The Seahawks have not been real contenders since RW was no longer on his rookie contract. I believe that Seattle thinks that a team with a 50 million QB on its roster can’t compete for a championship. We will see.
larkraxm, the Seahawks weren’t able to draft well enough to replace the players when those players left.
Clearly! I didn’t say that I agree with them…I said that “I believe that is what Seattle thinks”. Tell the truth Monday should include the draft choices. Don’t forget the terrible FA investments on guys like Greg Olsen, Carlos Hyde, and Eddy Lacy. I think that if you are monkey swinging through the jungle, you shouldn’t let go of the vine you are holding until you have the next one in your hand. I would not have traded RW without a clear path to a replacement. The Seahawks will probably fall off the vines and get eaten by a lion. The real question is can RW “cook” in Denver given similar cap and draft limitations.
Jordyn Brooks.
Russ will finish in the top 5 in MVP voting this year. I think there’s a likely playoff berth and possibly deep run for him and the Broncos. Dude can still swing it as well as anyone.
It’ll be hard for a 5’11 QB to caption a pass first offense. Wilson needs to move to see past the line, and that extra time isn’t ideal for WRs. He won’t be terrible in Denver, he will be what he was here. A mid pack QB, but he won’t turn Denver into a dynasty.
Just curious did you say the same thing about Drew Brees?
Denver has a great running game which will help Wilson a bunch. He can be a great passer, he’s not just a runner who throws sometimes.
Wow, what an odd place for a Kyler Murray take!
Pete Carroll and John Schneider have been declining for the past decade. Wilson masked their terrible play calling, drafting, and lack of talent for years.
Pete never criticizes his players publicly, but Wilson holds the ball too long and won’t take the check downs because he wants to “cook”. Then he complains about taking too many hits.
So the Seahawk brain trust soured on Wilson because they thought he was in decline? Aren’t these the same geniuses that were considering Kaepernick as recently as a year ago?
No. The Ravens were more serious about signing Kaep than the Seahawks ever were.
The situation in Seattle wasn’t working for either side. They think he’s getting older and declining. That’s only natural to assume when dudes start reaching the wrong side of 30. Wilson hated the situation. He was owed a lot of money, it would cost a lot of money to extend him, and this team was at best going to tread water while they try to rebuild. It was time to change it up.
Considered giving Kaepernick a tryout… That’s about it. Seattle’s FO will kick the tires on just about anyone. See Lendale White, Mike Williams, Terrell Owens… JJ Arcega-Whiteside. It’s common practice.
It was a side show to placate him. Nothing more.
I respectfully disagree. Seattle didn’t/doesn’t owe Kaepernick anything. Why would they give a rip if he was unhappy about not getting an opportunity after SF. He got a tryout, wasn’t good enough. Career over. It’s pretty straightforward. Ppl want to over analyze things, and make it political. I understand that, but this is football.
You can disagree all you want, this is what it was. And it wasn’t because Seattle particularly cared about Kaepernick at all, but the NFL did, and it was more like what can the NFL do for me if I do this for the NFL. If you think this doesn’t happen, maybe you don’t remember the Michael Sam situation?
Sam was the first openly gay player to enter the NFL draft. He got drafted really late because despite his sack totals against some suspect competition, his athletic skills were pretty poor. But because this was a great story for the NFL, they made a deal. See, a lot of coaches hate the Hardknocks program and didn’t want to be a part of it. So the NFL said, “Whatever team drafts Sam doesn’t have to be on Hardknocks.”
As soon as the preseason was done, the Rams cut him and didn’t even practice squad him.
The fans aren’t making things political, the NFL is.
Yea declining.
I think they may have thought he was declining for his price point. Is he still really good? Hell yes. is he $40MM+ good..hell no..use the money elsewhere and draft a cheap QB and hope it works.
Wilson takes a lot of sacks – then blames his o-line. Did you hear a lot of Wilson’s former Seattle teammates say they felt bad he left? No, you didn’t – which speaks volumes.
Yeah, Denver should totally trade Wilson.
No. They should watch out for the Earl Thomas experience, though. RW was babied in Seattle and babies through fits.
link to 2giantgoofballs.buzzsprout.com