Brian Baldinger: Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll Dynamic Remains Storyline to Watch For Seahawks

Several months before a turbulent offseason began in the Pacific Northwest, all appeared to be perfect for Russell Wilson, Pete Carroll, and the Seahawks. The team had raced out to a 5-0 start behind one of the NFL's best offenses and Wilson had throw nearly 20 touchdown passes to emerge as the early MVP favorite.

But while some regression towards the mean was expected, nobody expected to see Seattle's offense go into a tailspin as it did over the final two months. Wilson would throw seven interceptions over the next four games, including three in an overtime loss to Arizona. Despite finishing 6-2 down the stretch to seal an NFC West title and finish 12-4 overall, Wilson threw just 12 touchdowns in those final eight games and the team was held to 20 points or less five times.

The most prolonged slump of Wilson's career carried into the playoffs and doomed the Seahawks, who dropped a 30-20 decision to the Rams at Lumen Field in the wild card round. During that contest, although the star quarterback found DK Metcalf twice for touchdowns, he completed only 11 out of 27 pass attempts and threw a pick-six to cornerback Darious Williams as the offense was once again stifled.

Following the unexpected early postseason exit, Seattle jettisoned offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, replacing him with former Los Angeles Rams assistant Shane Waldron. Then after watching Tom Brady and the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, Wilson uncharacteristically aired his grievances in a series of interviews, telling reporters he was tired of "getting hit too much," wasn't involved enough in personnel decisions, and wanted a greater voice in regard to play calling.

These comments spawned months of trade speculation and Wilson's agent Mark Rodgers threw gas onto the fire, unearthing four teams his client would be willing to waive his no-trade clause to play for. Reports surfaced about discontent between the player and coach Pete Carroll, further fanning the flames.

Ultimately, Carroll and general manager John Schneider never shopped Wilson, though plenty of teams inquired about his availability. Once OTAs kicked off in June, all parties seemed to have righted the ship and the signal caller had bought back in, ready to ramp up preparation for his 10th season in Seattle.

After watching the Seahawks offense flounder in the second half and witnessing the entire soap opera unfold this spring, NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger thinks there was plenty of blame to go around that led to Wilson's discontentment.

"I don't know about the blame game here," Baldinger said. "He started off, he threw 19 touchdown passes in the first five weeks, leading to the #LetRussCook, all that stuff. It was all real... and then he threw seven interceptions in three of the next four games. And they lost games. Pete even said 'I don't recognize this offense.' They had some injuries at running back, they couldn't run the ball quite like they wanted to, and they really only had two receivers they could go to. They were just limited. But they got back to Seattle football and they won six of their last seven."

As Baldinger noted, the Seahawks didn't miss a beat in the win/loss column towards the end of the season in spite of Wilson's struggles. Unlike earlier in the year when the defense couldn't stop anyone, the arrival of defensive end Carlos Dunlap via trade and return of a healthy Jamal Adams helped spur a historic turnaround as the team allowed just 16 points per game over the final eight contests.

But once the playoffs started, Seattle needed Wilson to get back on track and play at his best to advance against the NFC's best teams. Due to a myriad of factors, some out of the quarterback's control, that simply did not happen. After being in attendance to watch Brady win his seventh Lombardi Trophy with a new team, frustrations predictably boiled over.

"They weren't good in the playoff game, but I think some of it is - I'm not speaking for Russell, but just as an outsider - he wants to be Aaron Rodgers, he wants to be Tom Brady for sure," Baldinger commented. "He knows one [Super Bowl] isn't gonna put him in any elite company that he's wanting even though he's been to two and probably should have won both.

"But that's how he thinks. He wants to be remembered as one of the greatest, he's never missed a game in nine years, played in 16 postseason games, he understands what this whole thing is about and he just thinks you've got to throw it to win it."

With the regular season opener against the Colts only a week away, Wilson and the Seahawks once again have Super Bowl aspirations. The hiring of Waldron has drawn rave reviews from players on both sides of the football and the organization hopes his presence can vault the offense to another level, which in turn should prevent another dramatic offseason revolving around their franchise quarterback.

But from Baldinger's perspective, while Waldron could be the middle man necessary to blend Wilson and Carroll's differing offensive ideologies together to form a scheme that makes both men happy, he's a bit skeptical about the Seahawks being able to avoid a similar situation to the one they dealt with in the spring. Though the player and coach have achieved incredible success together over the past decade, their complicated relationship and contrasting viewpoints may make it difficult for them to co-exist beyond this season if things don't according to plan.

"I just think he's at odds with Pete," Baldinger remarked. "Now they can bring in Shane Waldron and maybe he'll marry the two offenses together, but Pete wants to run it and pound it and take care of the football and Russell wants to do what he did the first five weeks [in 2020], so I don't know about blame. I just think there's a difference in philosophy about how to win games."

At the end of the day, as Wilson told reporters during OTAs, winning cures all. If the Seahawks win another NFC West title and advance deep into the postseason, Wilson likely won't be banging on the trade drums again, regardless of how they accomplish such success. But if the team suffers from another early exit or misses the playoffs entirely, particularly if Carroll and Waldron don't allow him to cook to the best of his ability in a new offense, speculation about his future may become more than speculation next offseason.

Along with getting ready for to cover the upcoming NFL and college football season for the NFL Network and FOX Sports, Brian Baldinger also has been busy offering his signature offensive line seminars on CoachTube, a digital platform that offers football coaching courses.

He currently has four courses on CoachTube, two of which focus on the offensive line as well as one coaching course on tight end play and another on wide receivers. Check out the four course offerings here.