Rash of Poor Personnel Decisions, Uncertain Future Led to Russell Wilson/Seahawks Split
In a stunning move that sent shockwaves throughout the NFL, the Seahawks jettisoned star quarterback Russell Wilson on Tuesday, shipping the nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback to the Broncos in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, and a trio of veterans.
By opting to deal Wilson, Seattle now finds itself without a franchise signal caller on the roster for the first time in a decade and potentially on the verge of a full-scale rebuild, while Denver lands what it believes will be the missing piece to get back into Super Bowl contention in the AFC. It's the rare blockbuster trade that truly alters the landscape in both conferences, creating euphoria for one fan base and devastation for the other.
How did things reach this point for the Seahawks? Why make this deal now when Wilson still has two years left under contract and remains in the midst of his prime? In retrospect, this deal was brewing under the surface well before the quarterback began making his frustrations public a year ago due to a litany of poor personnel decisions, persistent whiffs on early draft picks, and the lack of playoff success.
Early in his career, Wilson landed in a perfect situation quarterbacking a team with a historically great defense and a stout running game anchored by running back Marshawn Lynch. Beating out Matt Flynn in his first training camp and earning a Week 1 starting nod as a rookie, he led the Seahawks to at least one playoff win in each of his first four seasons and helped the franchise capture their first Lombardi Trophy beating the Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.
But starting in 2016, with a once-dominant defense aging and the organization as a whole continuing to reel after choking away a second Super Bowl victory in Arizona, Seattle entered a prolonged drought in regard to playoff success. Even with Wilson lighting up the skies with 30 or more touchdown passes in four of the past five seasons, the team has won a grand total of two playoff games since 2016, failing to advance past the Divisional Round even once.
During that same span, all three other teams in the NFC West reached the NFC Championship Game and both the 49ers and Rams advanced the Super Bowl in the past three years, with the latter winning it all last season.
At the root of Seattle's problems, general manager John Schneider and the front office consistently whiffed in free agency, failing to add difference-making, impact stars and instead choosing to spend their money ineffectively by signing former draft busts such as tackle Luke Joeckel to a one-year, $8 million deal. Offseason after offseason, the team tried to operate cheaply as bargain hunters and more times than not, they would have been better off lighting money on fire.
Schneider and coach Pete Carroll, who also carries the title of executive vice president of football operations, struggled to recapture their magic finding talent through the draft. While the duo found stars such as receivers Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, they also botched numerous high picks in recent years, including selecting seldom-used defensive end L.J. Collier in the 2019 NFL Draft, which set the franchise back compared to other contenders.
In addition, Schneider executed what may now be viewed as the move that broke the camel's back, trading away a pair of first round picks to the Jets to acquire safety Jamal Adams before the start of the 2020 season. While Adams earned All-Pro honors that year, the trade proved to be the latest swing and miss for a front office that also shipped away first round picks to acquire receiver Percy Harvin and tight end Jimmy Graham with disappointing results.
As the Seahawks failed to compete for titles year in and year out and personnel mishaps continued to pile up, the uber-competitive Wilson became increasingly frustrated, particularly with a coaching staff he felt wasn't putting the football in his hands enough to let him "cook." Reports circulated from The Athletic indicating that the quarterback stormed out of a meeting with coaches during the week leading up to a Week 11 game against Arizona, feeling his input wasn't respected or considered by the staff.
Eventually, likely spurred by seeing Tom Brady win a Super Bowl in his first year with the Buccaneers, Wilson broke typical character to an extent after the conclusion of the 2020 season. On the heels of the 12-4 Seahawks getting ousted in the wild card round by the Rams and once again making a quick playoff exit, he pleaded for the team to bring in more superstars, threw his offensive line under the bus by complaining about getting hit too much, and lamented not having a greater voice in personnel decisions.
Then, Wilson's agent Mark Rodgers poured gasoline on the fire his client had lit himself, telling ESPN insider Adam Schefter four teams the quarterback would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to play for. At that point, a trade out of town seemed likely, if not inevitable.
But even after reports surfaced that Schneider had discussed a possible deal with Bears general manager Ryan Pace, Seattle opted not to trade Wilson,. The player and team worked to mend fences and sweep the situation under the rug once OTAs opened in May and No. 3 was back under center for the season opener in September. All seemed to be well for a brief moment.
Just as had been the case for the past half decade, however, the Seahawks didn't do a good enough job putting talent around Wilson. Their best move improving a chronically porous offensive line - trading a fifth-round pick for Gabe Jackson - only marginally improved pass protection. Several free agent signings didn't pan out, including cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon being traded before the conclusion of training camp.
With just three draft picks as a result of the Adams' trade, the Seahawks also received minimal production from their rookie class. Receiver Dee Eskridge, who the team selected instead of center Creed Humphrey, missed seven games with a concussion, while fourth-round cornerback Tre Brown missed most of the season with a patellar tendon injury and sixth-round tackle Stone Forsythe played a total of 14 offensive snaps.
In recent weeks, Wilson's public statements suggested he wanted to stay in Seattle. He shot down the idea of playing on the East Coast in an interview with the Today show last week and told reporters back in January that he hoped to win three more Super Bowls with the organization. At the NFL combine a week ago, Carroll and Schneider told reporters they had "no intention" of dealing the quarterback.
But the NFL is a shrewd, ever-so-fluid business where things change rapidly. Knowing that Wilson would likely command at least $45 million per year on a new contract in coming years and may not even have interest in re-signing due to his frustrations with the organization, with a strong offer thrown their way by the Broncos that they may not have gotten down the road, Schneider and Carroll decided the time had come to move on from the best quarterback in franchise history and pulled the trigger.
If Seattle's brain trust would have been more aggressive signing stars in free agency rather than seeking a bunch of cheap deals on role players, things may or may not have played out differently. Fewer misses on high draft picks certainly would have given the team a chance to do more damage in the postseason and eased Wilson's increasing concerns, while making the desperate trade to acquire Adams remains up for debate given the lack of intel on the 2021 draft class due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the end, however, Carroll and Schneider simply didn't do a sufficient enough job building a championship-caliber roster around Wilson to get out of the stagnation the Seahawks have found themselves mired in. After taking a deficient roster as far as he could take them for the past several years, following the franchise's worst season in more than a decade, turning the page was the best plan for all parties.
