Why Seahawks legend Russell Wilson needs to call it quits

On some level, I understand.

Retirement for a professional athlete is different from retirement for most others. For most people, retirement is something you do near the end of your life, when age makes it somewhere between difficult and impossible for you to get much done. If we’re lucky, it’s a couple decades at the end where you get to relax and do nothing.

The professional athlete is different. They’ve still got half their life in front of them when thoughts of retirement creep in. They still probably feel pretty good physically, and often very sharp mentally. Maybe not at the peak of their powers anymore, but still much more athletically capable than the average individual. It’s a lot harder to say goodbye.

And what awaits you on the other side of retirement? Sitting around the house, away from quite possibly the only thing you’ve ever been good at, the thing you’ve built your life around since you were a little kid? If you’re lucky, filming commercials and movie cameos? If you’re really lucky, manning a spot in the booth or studio for analysis?

All the while watching the league you used to star in, convinced that you’re still just as good as a lot of the guys you’re watching, if only someone would just give you that one last chance?

It’s tough. And in the case of Russell Wilson, one of near-endless positivity, who has previously said he hopes to play until he’s 45 and currently sits at just a little over 37, it’s probably even tougher. But none of that changes the fact that, as we close the book on Russell Wilson’s fourteenth NFL season, he needs to hang it up and move to the next phase of his life.

Russell Wilson has said multiple times that he fully intends to play in 2026, even hiring a new agent to help accommodate that, and also said that he has no alternate plan for his life beyond playing football. So, if Wilson has his way, his fast-fading career will get a chance to fade even further for a fifteenth season.

It happened fast for Russell. It usually happens fast for star NFL quarterbacks, but Wilson’s case seemed particularly extreme. In 2020, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the league, throwing 40 touchdowns and leading Seattle to a franchise record in points. In 2022, he was the worst quarterback in the league, stewarding the league’s worst offense with awful statistics.

If Russ is still searching for this version of himself in 2026, he won't find it. — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) against the Arizona Cardinals. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

I’m sure there’s a part of him that is just waiting for the elite play to return. It has to still be there somewhere, he probably thinks. We saw a couple flashes of it in 2023 and 2024, when he was able to string together short bursts of competency for the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, even managing to make a playoff game with the Steelers.

But even those moments are fleeting and shallow. His five game win streak in 2023, which had Denver on the cusp of a playoff spot, was accomplished almost entirely with Russ being a game manager and leaning on a defense that played with its hair on fire. Wilson averaged 180 passing yards a game during that run.

After that streak, Denver lost three of four, lost their playoff spot, and Wilson hit the bench. A couple months later, the Broncos released Wilson, deciding they’d rather eat $85 million dollars in dead money than have him on their roster. His coach during that year, Sean Payton, has disrespected and mocked him since the split.

He had a nice run in Pittsburgh, starting 6-1 with some nice numbers, including a vintage 414 yard game against the Bengals. But a five game losing streak ended his time with the Steelers, as he reverted back to game manager status and drove the team to decide that they’d be better off with 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers.

And of course, there’s the Dallas game. A game that it sounds like he’ll cling to as hard as he can as he attempts to convince an NFL team that he can still play at a high level. And it was a very special game. 450 yards, 3 touchdowns, 37 points, some truly inept defense costing him a signature win (ignore the game-losing interception in overtime for a moment).

And now, he’s claiming that he did it all on a torn hamstring that he suffered in practice, a lovely parting gift to the team that signed him last offseason that will likely lead to an offseason investigation regarding undisclosed injuries (although Wilson has attempted to absolve the Giants of blame by saying that he hid the injury).

Either way, Wilson hopes you’ll focus on that game against a historically bad defense (among the worst in the history of DVOA, in fact), and not the two starts he had that sandwiched it. Six points against Washington, nine points against Kansas City, under 170 yards passing in both games, games that were actually winnable for New York.

The Chiefs game in particular was one of the worst games of his career, and saw him benched for rookie Jaxson Dart. And that wasn’t even the end of Wilson’s ignominious season. Remember the October game against the Eagles, where Wilson entered for an injured Dart, threw one awful pass, and coach Brian Daboll practically dragged Dart out of the blue tent?

How about participating in blowing a late lead (a New York Giants staple in 2025) to the Chicago Bears after another Dart injury? How about losing his backup quarterback spot to Jameis Winston, relegated to emergency quarterback duties? It was an atrocious season with one shining moment, which didn’t even result in a victory.

Wilson taking what needs to be the last sack of his career. — Chicago Bears safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (35) sacks New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson (3). | David Banks-Imagn Images

It was the kind of season that, for most, would herald a fairly easy retirement announcement. Especially a former great. But for Wilson, he’s not going to hang it up quite so easily. I’m hoping that, either via his own decision or NFL teams lack of interest, it ends there. And I say all this as a Seahawks fan. In fact, I say all this because I’m a Seahawks fan.

Russell Wilson is one of our legendary players. The best, most successful quarterback in franchise history. A Super Bowl champion. Part of many of our best teams in franchise history. Nine Pro Bowls, nine playoff wins, 158 out of a possible 161 regular season starts. There was friction, there were bad moments, there were problems, but nothing to undo an amazing career.

Maybe he never reached the heights of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or Drew Brees, but we view him through the same lens that Patriots, Colts/Broncos, and Saints fans view those guys through. He’s our guy. Our trademark, franchise quarterback. A hundred years from now, there’s a very good chance Russell Wilson will still be the best quarterback this team has ever had.

It was a joy, a pleasure to watch him. He was a unique individual with a unique skillset, and what he accomplished in Seattle is something that fans will always appreciate. But there’s nothing to appreciate about watching this former legend struggle to cling onto relevancy as a hired gun journeyman, desperately trying to convince one last team that he’s a top 32 quarterback still.

Tom Brady had one forgettable season (where he still managed to make the playoffs and put up respectable numbers) and called it quits. Peyton Manning fell off hard for one season (Super Bowl Champion!) and saw the writing on the wall. Drew Brees slipped at the end and retired despite good numbers and good team success. That’s how it should be for legends.

Imagine if Tom Brady spent his late 40s bouncing from bottom-feeder to bottom-feeder on one year contracts, seeking out anyone that had such a bad quarterback situation they’d give him the starting job so he could eke out a few more counting stats. Or if Peyton Manning convinced himself that 2015 was a fluke and that he’d get back to All-Pro status next season.

That’s where we already are with Russell Wilson. He’ll be seeking out his fourth team in four seasons in 2026. 2025 was already a season where he essentially tossed all pretense of being interested in winning and championships, linking up with an obviously terrible team that would hand him a starting job (that he lost in less than a month).

Maybe that kind of thing is fine for a guy like Joe Flacco, who was a fine quarterback for over a decade in Baltimore but never made a single Pro Bowl or threw over 28 touchdown passes in a season. Or Tyrod Taylor, who was never anything all that special and now makes his bones jumping to whichever team needs a half-decent backup quarterback.

But Russell Wilson should be above that kind of thing. His career was so good, so strong, that subjecting it to play so lackluster that it makes some people question if his career was ever that good in the first place should be beneath him. Since it doesn’t seem like Russell will make the decision himself, I’m hoping that the NFL teams help him out by not signing him.

Eventually, people are going to forget how great he was before leaving Seattle. Sometimes, it feels like people already have. He's starting to be defined by his failures more than his successes. And as a fan of the team that benefitted from his successes for a decade, I don't want that to happen more than it already has. So, let this be the final chapter in Russell Wilson's career.

Because ‘playing yourself out of the Hall of Fame’ was a warning, not a challenge.

These days aren't coming back. — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XLVIII. | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

More Seahawks on SI stories