Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner 'Excited to Compete,' Mesh With 'Special' Defense
RENTON, Wash. - When the Seattle Seahawks abruptly released Bobby Wagner after a decade with the team last March, the future Hall of Fame linebacker believed he had played his last game with the only franchise he had ever known.
But while Wagner received a cruel reminder that the NFL remains a business first during an ugly split between the Seahawks and one of their most iconic stars, only one year later, he also received a reminder the league can also unearth pleasant, unexpected surprises. Following one dominant season starring for the Rams, the stars aligned for him to re-join his former team and he signed a one-year, $7 million contract to make the reunion official.
Back in the VMAC sporting a team hoodie and re-familiarizing himself with local media on a Zoom call after a brief homecoming in Los Angeles, Wagner was all smiles and grateful to call Seattle home once again.
"It has been great, just being back in the building," Wagner told reporters on Wednesday. "Not everybody's in the building, so I haven't been able to see everybody, but just being able to come in the building, it's been cool. I mean, honestly, things didn't end that great. And I don't live that far from the building. I would drive by and not have too many nice things to say about the building until this happened. It's good to be back in this place."
At the time of his release, which happened on the same day the Seahawks traded star quarterback Russell Wilson to the Broncos, Wagner couldn't have imagined he would find himself back playing in Seattle at any point, let alone less than 400 days later.
Unhappy about the lack of communication from general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll, Wagner aired his displeasure on social media and called them out for using the fact he serves as his own agent as an excuse. Though he reiterated that he didn't hold any grudges or ill will towards the organization, the chances of the two sides achieving reconciliation anytime soon seemed slim to none.
But time heals all wounds and with the Rams needing cap space and the linebacker wanting to play for a contender, the two sides agreed to a split in February. This opened the door for the Seahawks to speak with him about a potential return and once it became clear both sides were genuinely interested in running it back, the ball started rolling.
While other suitors offered more money to sign him, the opportunity to wear No. 54 again for Seattle and play in front of the "best fans in the world" was too enticing for Wagner to pass up. With teammates such as safety Quandre Diggs going all-out re-recruiting him on social media and conversations with Schneider ongoing, he eventually signed the dotted line on March 25, turning a once unforeseen pipe dream into reality.
"For me, I never really wanted to leave in the first place," Wagner said, "Obviously, business happened and I had opportunity to go play in the city I grew up in. And so I thought that was cool. And then I wanted to come back at the city I kind of matured in, so for me, I think it was cool to to be able to kind of make that happen... I wanted to be home. And this was another home of mine, and I wanted to be back."
Though some things haven't changed during a year away and many teammates and coaches remain with the team, Wagner will be returning to a dramatically different situation in Seattle than the one he left behind in many ways.
At the time of his departure, Wagner passed the torch via Instagram to Jordyn Brooks, who took the reigns as the Seahawks new on-field play caller with a green dot on his helmet. Along with that change of the guard at linebacker, promoted defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt implemented a shift from the 4-3 defense the team had deployed throughout Carroll's tenure to a hybrid 3-4 scheme.
Heading into his second stint, Wagner acknowledged he will have to acclimate to a scheme with notable differences from the one he thrived in for 10 years. But on the plus side, as Carroll also noted at the NFL league meetings last month, he sees plenty of carryover with what Seattle will ask him to do compared to the system he played well in last year in Los Angeles.
"Last year, I was fortunate enough that the scheme that I went to with the Rams was a scheme that Seattle was transitioning to. And so I was able to kind of play in that system for a year, get a little bit of understanding," Wagner explained. "I think the biggest thing that will be the adjustment for me learning the terminology that they use and learning the different intricacies to how they do it."
Showing he still had plenty of tread left on his tires, Wagner shined for the Rams while playing more snaps near the line of scrimmage and being utilized more frequently as a blitzer. Garnering Second-Team All-Pro honors, he racked up 140 tackles, a career-high six sacks, and 20 quarterback pressures while also picking off two passes and generating three pass breakups in coverage, turning in one of his most complete seasons in an illustrious career.
Upon his return to the Seahawks, Wagner expects that positive experience to pay dividends on the field and ease his transition in a diverse scheme blending new concepts with old ones. From a leadership standpoint, he's not concerned about being the lone ranger or sharing the responsibility with Brooks once he returns from a torn ACL, ready to embrace whatever role awaits him in that regard.
Eager to make the most of this gifted opportunity that nobody saw coming back in Seattle, Wagner simply wants to be the best version of himself to help his "new" old team win football games any way he can.
"They still will be running some of the stuff that I've ran when I was here before, so I think it'd be a combination of some of the stuff I ran before I left, some of the stuff that they ran while I wasn't here. I'm just excited to compete and find my way on the field and keep playing at a high level."
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