The 12th Man has had it pretty good in the 21st Century. In the last 21 years, the Seattle Seahawks have enjoyed 15 winning seasons, 14 playoff appearances, 11 division titles, three trips to the Super Bowl and one championship.
Almost as important as the product on the field is the fact the Seahawks have largely avoided constant offseason drama which seems to plague teams like Cleveland or Washington . . . until now.
It is not even the end of February and the Seahawks are fully embroiled in one of the biggest offseason stories of the year. The Seahawks’ relationship with star quarterback Russell Wilson is on the rocks.
Immediately following Super Bowl LV, Wilson uncharacteristically critiqued the Seahawks publicly about the inability to build a better offensive line. On Thursday, things took a dramatic escalation with a bombshell story in The Athletic detailing Wilson’s long-held frustrations with the coaching staff and organization.
Furthermore, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out Wilson told his agent, should a trade be considered, he would be open to being traded to the Cowboys, Raiders, Saints or Bears. It should be important to note Wilson has *not* requested a trade, but this news should be concerning for the 12th Man nonetheless.
Whether Wilson is simply listing teams as an attempt to gain more leverage against the Seahawks or is sending a coded message for those organizations to make Seattle an offer it can’t refuse, these recent developments are the biggest indicator of trouble in paradise.
Rumors about Wilson are nothing new, but they only seemed to pop up around the time Wilson was negotiating a new contract and they always turned out to be much ado about nothing. Now these reports of Wilson’s unhappiness are coming directly from him, his agent Mark Rodgers, and his camp as a whole.
The Seahawks have plenty of work ahead of them this offseason to mend fences with the best player in franchise history (with all respect to Steve Largent and Walter Jones) or risk becoming the Houston Texans of the Pacific Northwest.
[lawrence-related id=71506]