Seahawks HC Pete Carroll: 'No Intention' of Trading Russell Wilson
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Neither the Green Bay Packers nor the Seattle Seahawks appear willing to unseat their superstar quarterback.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll affirmed Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine that the team has "no intention" of trading Russell Wilson, who's persistently toyed with the idea of playing elsewhere in 2022.
"At this time of year, there's conversations about everybody," Carroll said regarding Wilson trade chatter, via ESPN.com. "We're talking about everybody. And that's commonplace for us to have conversations with teams about all of the players -- particularly marquee players -- and that's not changed. It's been the same every year we've been here. So it's the same as it's been.
"We have no intention of making any move there, but the conversations, [general manager John Schneider] has to field those. He always has. But nothing specific to that."
Carroll's comments indirectly confirmed a Feb. 25 report by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, who expects Wilson to stay put until Seattle has a "better" alternative under center. They also echoed that of Wilson himself, who said on March 1, "Seattle’s the place I’m at right now and I love it.”
The hullabaloo surrounding Wilson's future with the Seahawks crescendoed last December when ESPN's Jordan Schultz reported the nine-time Pro Bowl passer would "strongly consider" waiving his no-trade clause for three teams: the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, and the Denver Broncos. Schultz revealed Wilson's consternation stemmed from general manager John Schneider and Schneider's inability to protect the regularly-sacked 33-year-old.
The Broncos reportedly expressed a mutual interest in Wilson and would "try for" his acquisition, provided he became available and Aaron Rodgers remained in Green Bay, as anticipated. Rodgers is likely to sign a short-term contract extension that makes him the highest-paid player in league history.
With both QBs presumably off the table, Denver may pivot to the free-agent market, targeting a veteran mercenary (Jameis Winston? Mitchell Trubisky?) to compete with Drew Lock for the starting job. Failing that, the organization could use a premium draft pick on a rookie signal-caller such as Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, or Matt Corral — all of whom met with Broncos brass at the Combine.
"It’s the most important position in sports, so we’re always looking," GM George Paton said Tuesday in Indianapolis. "We do have Drew Lock under contract, we have ‘Ryp’ [QB Brett Rypien]. But we’re always looking. No stone unturned to find that guy. We know we need better play out of the quarterback position. So we’re going to be aggressive.”
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